Last week's memory verse is one of my favorites: Philippians 4:6-7 says "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." We have already memorized verses 4-5 and 8. Here 's the whole passage:
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."It was one of those weeks in which I found it hard to rejoice, or be gentle, or pray, or meditate on only good things. All I could think about was what I needed to get done and when was I going to do it. In reflecting back over my week, I thought about an experience that I had a couple of weeks ago that make a good illustration of how too much "clutter," whether tangible or intangible, can distract us from our priority task:
On a typical Sunday morning while we were doing our usual "scramble," Rush, our 2 1/2 year old, decided to help me pick out a necklace (I wasn't even planning on wearing one; it was just one of those toddler moments where he was being ignored while we were getting ready for church, so he made his own fun!). I keep most of my necklaces on a hook in my bathroom, so it easily becomes a tangled mess when one necklace gets carelessly pulled off. I caught him in the act, but it was too late! All (about 15) long necklaces were tangled up like spaghetti! I started to try pulling them apart and got most of the necklaces undone. But there were four that did not come apart so easily. We were running out of time if we were going to make it to church, so I left them.
Over the next couple of days I tinkered with the tangled necklaces here and there, but only for a few seconds at a time. I would get flustered just looking at them. Their final resting place was on my bathroom vanity. But they weren't the only eye-sore on the bathroom counter. A new, un-opened box of toothpaste, a nail file, some polish, and bathroom cleaner had been on display for a few days as well. Random hairs that came off of my head lay like confetti streamers all around. I knew the necklaces were still there and that I was letting a mess start to pile up, but the frustration that I felt for "failing" to get the necklaces untangled made it easy to clutter up the rest of the bathroom too.
It was Tuesday of the following week (9 days!) when I acknowledged that I had let the bathroom go too far. I walked in and saw the necklaces laying there on the counter, and suddenly felt motivated to I started putting away all of the "stuff" that was cluttering my vanity. The toothpaste in the box went to the basket of extras; the file & polish went to the mani/pedi basket; the hairs were wiped away and went to the trash; and then the cleaner got put to use.
I started studying the tangles. I decided which necklace to work on first and then found each end; that helped me navigate through the other necklaces. I continued that method until I finally got all of them untangled! It only took me about 15 minutes!
Have you ever done that in your spiritual life? I know I have and did last week. I was not spending the time that I needed to in studying God's word and in praying. I knew all week that I was "failing"- misprioritizing. I was digging a hole too; because it seemed as though the more disconnected with God that I felt, I fell into even more distractions. My spirit was a tangled mess! Of course it's obvious to me now that I was relying on my own strength at this point. I was not allowing Christ's power to rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
I go through this kind of "cycle" every so often. Until I can openly acknowledge the sin (seeing the necklaces on the counter and determining to do something about it instead of ignoring them), I can't confess it to God. But once I acknowledge and confess it, I can more clearly focus on the priority task: my relationship with God. (I realize that this isn't a perfect illustration, but thinking & reflecting in this way helps me personally.)
This- staying on the "priority task"- is certainly a daily struggle for me on some level or another. This passage is worth reading again because, I will admit, my mind is SO WEAK. As soon as I "fail," those negative thoughts come rushing in. But keeping out the clutter- whether it's negative thinking, or obsessive thoughts or actions, or just too much stuff on your to-do list- will guard your heart from becoming a "tangled mess."
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." Philippians 4:4-8
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