Purging and Rest

While at a glance these two topics, purging and rest, might not seem like they go together, but hopefully by the end of this post you will see how they do.

Clutter suffocates the white space, crowding out the room we need for our souls to breathe and our creativity to thrive. An excess of things will threaten to control your time, taunt you in your sleep, and turn you into a slave of the maintenance of your home and keeper of your stuff. Clutter is a stealer of joy and an enemy of contentment. Your home should breathe happiness into your family's story, not slowly suck the life out of you. - Make Room For What You Love by Melissa Michaels

At the beginning of the year I decided I was going to start purging stuff. I am tired of clutter and feeling like we have too much stuff. I am pretty good about cleaning clothes out that I no longer wear, but here recently (April 2022) I feel like my closet has too much stuff I don't wear. (same for 4/23!) I have taken several trips to Goodwill, getting rid of clothes, shoes, comforters, and other things that we no longer need. I have even started cleaning out my books (gasp!). If it is a book I will never read again, or have had it forever and haven't read it, I am getting rid of it.

Postponing a decision to eliminate clutter automatically creates more of the disorder we are trying to escape. -Melissa Michaels

When our homes are stuffed with clutter it is impossible to rest. Not only does the clutter suck the life out of us, we constantly have to take care of that stuff. If we are constantly keeping up with the stuff, it is taking away from other stuff we could be doing, more life-giving, instead of life-depleting stuff. It becomes busy work, and as Glynnis Whitwer (Taming the To-Do List) says, "Busy work is the thief or our best work." Ouch. Go back and read it again...

A lot of people make fun of Marie Kondo, but I think she had it right, "Get rid of the things that do not bring you joy." I think the less we have the happier we would be. I don't know if you have ever visited a third-world country, but they are some of the happiest/joy-filled people I have seen. Why? Because they are not weighed down by all the stuff! Sure, they have problems, just like we do, but they are not in debt over their purchases, and constantly having to take care of that stuff. I say it again, it makes it impossible to rest, and we were made to have a rest. 

Ruth Soukup states: The key to resting-and I mean really resting-is actually allowing your mind and body to take a break even when there is more to do. Because there will always be more to do. Every day. For the rest of our lives. Look at it this way-if God could take a day off without the world falling apart, so can we. -from Unstuffed: Decluttering Your Home, Mind & Soul

Whenever you have a moment and see a little job to do, take advantage of it. Moments add up to progress. -Melissa Michaels

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so the necessary may speak. -Hans Hofmann

There is other clutter we need to purge as well. Not just the clutter of our homes, but the clutter of our soul. The guilt of not accomplishing what we set out to do. The guilt over the time we have spent on social media. The guilt over the way we talked to family or friends. The things that we spend our time on that is not important or life-giving. Throw them off. Throw off all the things that are preventing you from getting rest and doing your best work. Throw off the distractions that keep you from God and the things He has planned for you.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Hebrews 12:1

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus will give us rest but we have to do our part. What do you need to purge so that you can rest? (and don't ask me why it took well over a year to get this post finished!)