Friday: How We Escape
HOW WE ESCAPE
A Time to Clean: Day 10
When the past hurts, and we feel unlovable, we hold on to things that we really need to let go. Clutter piles up in our closets and drawers, in our hearts and in our homes. And we feel the need to escape our reality.
Expectations
Discouragement can creep in slowly over time as life in general doesn't go as expected. It can also crowd our soul quickly when grief strikes or changes we didn't ask for happens.
Life goes on whether or not we are discouraged and sometimes that means that we push aside our discouragement, never really dealing with the underlying issues in our heart. As we become more discouraged and more discontent we feel more and more overwhelmed until we feel like things will never be okay - or we resign ourselves to having a mediocre instead of the oft dreamed of glorious life we had envisioned.
Expectations can ruin your life. Our preconceived notion about how things should be is so different than our reality that we feel dissatisfied.
For me, I had this idea in my mind of what my life should look like. Despite the fact that I had a rough start, when I remarried I had high expectations of what my new life would be like. I wanted a perfect life. I wanted a perfect marriage, perfect kids, and a perfect home.
Do you see what's wrong with this picture? We're not in heaven yet! This life will never be perfect. My husband will never be perfect. My kids will make mistakes. My house is old and needs work. We will face sickness, death, loss, grief, financial worries, frustrations, and more.
Jesus said, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33
You will have trouble.
Peace that lasts will never be found in the tangible things of this world. Peace that lasts will never be found in fallible people. True peace can only be found in Jesus Christ who has overcome this world!
How We Escape
Unfortunately, we humans often look for peace in all the wrong places. Instead of going to the Source, the wellspring of life, we find escape in things like:
- novels
- television programs
- shopping
- food
- material possessions
- a career
- social media
There are so many ways we can escape from reality - even for just a little while. Instead of staying on top of the clutter in our hearts and homes, our weary souls tell us we need to take a break and fill the pain with something - anything to soothe the pain. Clutter and discouaragement go hand in hand - like a vicious cycle the discouragement leads to more discouragement as clutter accumulates and piles up, whether it be mental clutter, or emotional clutter, or soul clutter, or physical clutter. We don't want to deal with it.
What things in your life are masking the pain of your reality?
Real change comes when we choose to accept reality. Just like an alcoholic much admit he has a problem, we too must admit there's a problem and work to change our hearts and change our habits. Alcoholics often drink to numb the pain inside. And perfectly nice, sweet Christian women often hide their pain in novels or social media. In order to have real healing we must face what's really going on in our hearts and then deal with the reality of our cluttered homes.
Today's Goal
- Think about how you escape from reality. How would your time be better served? You can print my "This Week" To Do List {below} which perfectly coordinates with the "Purpose 31 Planners.
- Pray about making hard decisions – about what things you should keep, preserve, or let go.
- This week we're working in our Kitchens. Do as much as you can to fill a bag with clutter and clean your kitchen from top to bottom.
- This week we will also begin the routine of going to bed with a clean kitchen, sparkling sink, and clear counters if you aren't in this habit already.
- Fill at least one bag or box full of stuff to give away.
- Take a picture of your bag. Share it in our Facebook group and Instagram if you life - use hashtag #atimetoclean
- Do your best to wake up early tomorrow, read tomorrow's lesson and spend time in prayer.