Yesterday, my Linguistics classmates and I moved to a place to study and practice analyzing languages. The place where we are staying had another group here that left just before we arrived. We were warned that we might need to do some cleaning upon. Boy, was that the understatement of the century! It was filthy. Like disgusting filthy. So, I took 2 hours and deep cleaned my bedroom and bathroom and got mostly settled in. Last night, that was my priority.
Now, I know cleaning. During my time in Bible college, and the year off between then and missions training, my job was in housekeeping. Most of that was done in medical facilities. The thing about being in a medical facility is you have to clean well so that sickness doesn't spread. You have to deep clean your area every single day. People's health is at risk. The staff, patients, and their families are the priority.
But, we do that in our homes, too, right? Yes. Different people have different standards of clean, different priorities when it comes to cleaning. For me, The main living spaces, like the bathroom, kitchen and living room, need to be clean. I function better when they are. Often, if I am feeling overwhelmed, spending a few minutes to get stuff done, puts me in a better frame of mind. But my bedroom is often a tornado zone. Why? Because it is just me. I can shut the door and ignore the mess. I sleep and get dressed in there. That is it. That's it's purpose. Do I like it to be clean? Of course, but it just carries the least priority for me.
I think that we all wish our houses were cleaner or more organized, but there are always 10 billion other things to focus on. It all comes down to what our personal priorities are.
I've been overwhelmed lately. So many things happening at once. Some things in my life, some things in the lives of my friends and families. Some good, some bad. Life. Life gets overwhelming and sometimes- really messy.
I've been frustrated with a lot of things lately. Today, as I was sitting in my orientation meeting for this practicum, more unexpected things came up. I was overwhelmed and frustrated. Honestly, frustrated with myself more than anything or anyone because I feel like I didn't prepare as much as I should have. Usually, I am planner. Type A poster child type of a planner. And life, for me, goes smoother with a plan. So I was mad at myself for not preparing better. I went back to my room, about ready to cry.
And then I was convicted.
I was willing to take 2 hours to get my new little home deep cleaned and organized. But how much time to I put in to deep clean and organize my heart? How much time to I spend with the Lord, in His Word, talking to Him? If I'm being honest, it's usually the bare minimum. Some days, barely any conversation.
My heart is full of nasty things- fear, judgement, anxiety, pride, carelessness, frustration. But, my life, my heart belongs to Jesus now. So now, there is no room for those things.
The other day, my friend was sharing something his dad talked about- The Main Thing being the main thing. The Main Thing being Jesus. Jesus needs to be my priority. Spending time with Him and allowing Him do deep clean my heart. When I allow Him to do that, He replaces all of the nasty attitudes with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Everything else can wait. It MUST wait. Deep cleaning my heart needs to be first priority.
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer" - Psalm 19:14
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