Shhhh! Don’t tell but I have snuck away from our moving sale to write down a couple of thoughts. J Bright and early this morning, which is what happens when you let your husband put the ad in the paper….”You started it at 7:00?!?”, people began to amble through the rows of things that began in my driveway and carried on through the main level of my home. At least half of everything we own had been set out to sell, not having made the cut of what was worth the truck or trailer space in our upcoming move. There are a couple of things that are sobering about this whole process. The first one is how much STUFF a family can accumulate that when it comes right down to it is not needed. The second one is how freeing it is to be rid of all of the excess.

It has set my mind to thinking about my inner life as well. How much “stuff” do I hold unto that I don’t need and would actually be quite freeing to be rid of? My inner “stuff sifting” has found a lot that can go! Worry, fear, anger, disappointment, bitterness. Who needs them? Not me! It’s time to clean up.

I’m reminded of a blog I wrote a couple of years ago……

2/18/09 Sweating the Small Stuff

Various - of diverse kinds; unlike; different. James 1:2 says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds". Peter uses the same word in I Peter 1:6 when he says, "In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials".

Most of us have faced some pretty big trials in our lives. We have lost a loved one, faced a bad report from the doctor, or maybe not known where the money was going to come from to feed our family their next meal. Not all trials are big trials and that is a reason to be thankful. Don't you find, though, that the small trials can really mess you up in your day to day walk with the Lord? When a big trial comes generally our first response is to turn to the Lord. We KNOW we cannot handle those on our own. Small trials tend to sneak up on us. They are often just the daily aggravations of life: unmet expectations, cranky kids, a broken down car, an overflowing washing machine, or a person going too slow when we are in a hurry. Sometimes, ladies, things that would not bother us at all, depending on what time of the month it is, can really affect our state of mind.

I have had one of those weeks! Did you see the movie "The Incredibles"? (If you haven't, you must, it's one of my all time favorites!) At one point in the movie Mr. Incredible, who obviously has super-human strength, is captured. The thing that brings him to his knees is not a huge powerful thing in and of itself. He gets hit with a small ball of black...for lack of a better word, blob. He keeps running but then more of these black blobs land on him and before you know it he is taken down. This week my small aggravations have been like those black blobs. You know, one or two and I can keep going, keep doing my devotions, and living my life. Before I knew it though I was bogged down; dry devotions, and no joy. "Yikes", I thought, "What happened?" What happened is that I had not turned to Him in the little things. I certainly had not "counted it all joy" with James or "rejoiced" with Peter.

Hebrews 12:1 says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us". Remember chapter 11 of Hebrews is where we are given examples of saints who have gone before us excising great faith. I love that it doesn't just say to lay aside the sin. Yes, sin does hinder the running of the race of faith but the author of Hebrews also tells us to lay aside "every weight". These weights are the things other than sin that cling to us and hinder us in our race. So I have to lay these aside, this is an action. I must make the conscious decision to lay these things aside so that I can run my race and bring glory to my Savior.



I gotta go….think I’ve been found out!