What Do You Do With Your Trash?

 

Garbage. We all have it. We have it in the kitchen in the trash bin. We see it blowing along the streets sometimes. We might even view some people’s possessions this way – as garbage and not deserving a place in their homes (one man’s trash is another man’s treasure).

We have it in our minds. All the wrong thoughts, beliefs and lies we have tucked away in there amount to trash.

The Apostle Paul even considered all his earthly accomplishments as trash compared to the glory of knowing God. (Philippians 3:8)

Some people are fortunate to have compartments in their mind. Enjoying all the benefits of A.D.D. (I jest) all of my thoughts are sometimes scrambled together in one large room that could be labeled chaos. I seriously need to learn to put on the mind of Christ!

But if you sort through things and compartmentalize them, do you have a garbage bin tucked away in your mind somewhere?

Earlier today I was pondering this and realized it would be very effective to have a little trash bin in my mind – one like the one in my email, where I can just click on “empty bin” and it would all be gone in an instant. Like with my email, I’d have to pause and ask myself, “Am I sure I want to delete this? It’s a permanent decision.”

I recently shared a blog post about becoming organized and focused. That’s going to take some work. But how can I clean any room and organize without a trash bin (or Goodwill box) for what I no longer want or need?

The same goes for my mind.

There are plenty of unorganized thoughts I might want to forget about, but do I want to delete them forever? Well, yes – the lies I have stored up there need to go. But not necessarily all the unpleasant memories.

Let’s face it, some of those experiences brought me to where I am today. And today – I am quite happy. As a matter of fact, there’s little that could make me happier and more joyful than I am (despite the occasional bad mood or how much you might hear me complain about nothing).

So how do we tell the lies from the unpleasant memories or problematic thoughts?

Well, fortunately, that question has a pretty easy answer. It’s called taking all thoughts captive, something I didn’t understand for the longest time.

“(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.” – 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (KJV)

If I captured a bunny or a butterfly to enjoy its beauty and awe, I would momentarily release it.

If I captured a wild, angry rabid wolf, I would have to have it killed for safety’s sake.

When I capture a thought (taking it captive to take a closer look at it), how will I know if it’s something I need to hang on to or throw away?

I’ll lay it at the feet of Jesus in prayer and ask Him what He makes of it.

If He calls it a lie and reveals it should be tossed out, it needs to go into my mental trash bag. Yes, the one I need to take with me daily and empty before the end of the day. For me – this is something I’ll need to imagine every morning, or I’ll forget to take it with me.

But how will we know what Jesus thinks of my thoughts? He’ll tell you, and you will know His voice.

“When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” – John 10:4 (ESV)

This is where trusting in God becomes your faith.

This is a pivotal moment in your life; the moment you’ve looked for all your life. God has already hidden that faith in your heart. You just need to uncover it.

“ Call to me and I will answer you and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” – Jeremiah 33:3 (ESV)

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.  You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” – Jeremiah 29:11-13 (ESV)

Learn His voice by listening for Him every day. Converse with Him. He’s always longing to engage intimately with you.

And bring along that mental trash bag. He’ll even throw it away for you, if you let Him.

Leave a Message After the Tone

 

I heard a simple, but amazing suggestion today while at a brunch at church for volunteers.

Something doesn’t have to be profound to be effective. I don’t know why it never occurred to me before!

When you call someone and get their voicemail, leave your brief message, but include a short prayer. Even just a one or two line prayer could make their day. Know your audience, of course, but how powerful might this turn out to be?!

Not only do they know you need to get ahold of them, but they know you love them enough to take the time to pray a blessing over them.

What a beautiful way to share Jesus, even if you don’t mention His Name. What better way to love someone than to make time to pray for them?

When we offer to pray for someone, we often put it off till a time when we’re already praying (nighttime prayers, early morning prayers, etc…) or sometimes we might even forget to pray for them. Praying for someone in the moment is best. (My dear husband has taught me this.)

I get it, sometimes they’re in a hurry or you are – but short prayers are powerful, too.

Just a suggestion. But it’s a powerful one!

….might be a great way to end a letter, too, for those of us who still write letters!  

And yes, it will be a great way to end a blog post.

A prayer is but a breath given to God in faith, on behalf of yourself or someone else.

"The effective, fervent prayer of the righteous (those made righteous by the blood of Jesus) avails much." - James 5:16

 

When I pray for you,

I pray that God’s Joy

will over-come you

And that God’s Peace

will over-whelm you

And that God’s Protection

will over-shadow you

I hope you rest in His Love

And stand in His Grace

And dance in His Glory

I Love You!

Side-Tracked

 

The things that distract and sidetrack me…. I let them have too much power. Surprisingly, they can be petty, small things that prove to be amazingly strong.

Moments ago, I stopped on my way through the family room to stand in front of the patio door, indulging in the warmth of the sunshine. I even contemplated moving my desk to that spot because I loved it! I leaned my back onto the glass and melted. Maybe I should just put a sweater on, but it distracted me.

See there! Another distraction! The very sentence I typed out caused me to run upstairs to grab a sweater. But now I AM much warmer. While upstairs innocently grabbing that sweater, it crossed my mind that the dryer will stop any minute now. Will I submit to the buzzer when it calls me up there? Probably. I hate wrinkles in my clothes.

I can tie pretty much anything to some verse in the Bible and this topic is no exception. As I wrote in my journal this morning, I saw a piece to my puzzle emerge.

See there! Mother Nature called and I ran upstairs again. Well, that was a necessary distraction that I couldn’t ignore, but while I was up there I could totally have ignored the call of my Satin Hands in a pocket on the back of the bathroom door. Before I knew it I was exfoliating my hands. While yes – they’re incredibly soft now, it could have waited till after I’m finished writing. But by then, I’d have forgotten all about it and my hands would have been ignored. It’s a losing battle, I tell ya!

I recently joined a group on Facebook, hosted by a friend of mine [shout out to Debbie Mussack!] called Focanize Support Group. In this group we’ll hopefully unearth some solutions for those of us who are focus and organizationally challenged.

The puzzle piece that emerged while journaling this morning has an odd shape, one that might be hard to analyze, but compelling to look at.

Tying this puzzle piece into scripture is easy, introducing it to my life might be a little harder.

The phrase “fullness of time” popped into my head concerning whatever I was writing about, and it bounced around until it landed in this topic of being unorganized and my lack of focus and discipline.

In the Bible we read it in places that say things like, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” – Galatians 4:4-5 KJV Meaning, when the time was right.

Intrigue swirled in my brain asking, “Hmmm. Is there a fulness of time when I will successfully address all my shortcomings and whatever is behind them will be resolved?” And THAT’S when it dawned on me in a realistic way that there are ISSUES behind my shortcomings! (Duh!)

Well, that bit of the puzzle piece fit into place nicely, but now it’s time to explore what those issues might be and deal with them. Yikes! This will be the challenging part. Is the time right? Is it now?

What tares need to be pulled up without disturbing the wheat? (Another biblical reference, see Matthew 13:24-30.)

What things in my mind need to be addressed without breaking my heart?

What are the procrastination traps that keep showing up in my path? What are the roots of the focus / organizational challenges in my life?

As I explore this with God holding my hand AND my heart, I’ll write updated blog posts to share my discoveries with you.

How do YOU handle the little dysfunctions in your life?

How do YOU get and stay organized? How do you get and stay disciplined and focused?

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heavens…” – Ecclesiastes 3:1 KJV