Cleaning is Messy

“Freedom is worth the mess.”
Loren Thornburg

We are in the process of cleaning out some rooms in our house. The thing is, you wouldn’t know how much we have gotten rid of because the cleaning creates a mess before it is complete. It is the hard part of cleaning. Things tend to get worse and messier before they get better. As I see the piles around the house I am reminded that my own life looks like this sometimes. In the process of cleaning out some of the junk of my heart it gets messy because the junk that was once hidden behind closet and doors is now at the surface and easily seen by myself and others. Although it is on it’s way to being cleaner and freer, it looks and feels messier than ever. I begin to wish for things to go back to how they were before. Even though there was junk, it seemed more manageable than the mess. In the middle of the process it seems like it will never be over and things will never be clean again. Yet, things will find their place again if we continue to work through the piles little by little. It won’t get clean in a day, but as we continue it will get better and we will wonder how we ever functioned with all of that stuff before. We will wonder why we didn’t do it earlier because it feels so good and so free. Cleaning is messy but it’s worth the process.

“After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.”
Romans 8:30 MSG

It’s in His nature. He is a faithful God who completes what He has begun. He is faithful to invite you into the abundant life of freedom and walk with you each step unto the very end. It is a process. He calls you by name, sets you on a solid basis, establishes you, and stays with you. Did you notice who is next to you on the solid basis? It’s Him. God Himself is with you. He is committed to you. He is with you in the mess you are in and the piles you see, but He doesn’t seem them the way you do, as piles and messiness. No, He sees freedom. You are one step closer to freedom. This is not to be confused with being loved more by your Father. He loves you as you are, which is why He is calling you out of the junk and into freedom. He can’t help it. He can’t help but be faithful to stay with you to know more freedom and life. So stay with the One who stays with you.