Outside In
or cleaning house
The Christmas decorations have come down, the new year has begun. All the trappings of festivity are tucked away until next year while we move on to the next season of our lives.
Somehow with fresh surroundings and new beginnings it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that we’re still the same old (and young) people, inhabiting the same old space, filling it with our same old interactions — habits of thought and behavior have not changed with the season — and we are faced with the same old challenges and trials and temptations that always go along with many people inhabiting a small space.
It can feel disheartening to realize that our insides have not kept pace with the cleaning and organizing that takes place on the outside.
But what if we take the stripping of the external as an opportunity to take stock of our internal selves? Not to make resolutions, but to have a better, more true, gauge of where we stand and where we need to focus our attention and our efforts.
Can we be thankful for the bickering and the whining and the bad attitudes?
Can we take what they reveal about us and step out in repentance?
Can we learn to give glory to God for sending us the right medicine at the right moment in the right amount necessary for our salvation?
Can we open our hearts and say “yes” to His wisdom and mercy as He lovingly moves to cleanse us on the inside?
May we learn to see with honesty and to act with integrity and allow God to move in even the most mundane moments of our lives.