Weeding Out, Decluttering, Making Room/Space

In May this year I wrote about a small miniature pansy that I discovered hidden among all the weeds that had grown over the winter and the very wet spring.  After I cleared away all the surrounding weeds, you could see just how beautiful this tiny plant was.  (You can see a photo of it here).  Later I carefully dug it up and put it in a part of the small rockery where it had more space and plenty of sunshine.  The other day I took a photograph of it as it is now.  What a difference.  Removing it from the things that were stifling its growth allowed it to flourish and give more flowers than I had hoped.  I also found a couple more plants in similar circumstances that I consequently ‘rescued’ and am pleased that they also have flourished in their new surroundings. 

 

Over this past week we have been doing some more decluttering and recycling things that are no longer in use.  Yesterday we were able to fill a charity bag with unwanted clothes for McMillan charity shop.  On Wednesday we also put out for recycling a load of old magazines, well past their usefulness.  The result is that now we have more room in the wardrobes and there is an empty drawer where the magazines had been kept.  At first glance the idea of getting rid of something or throwing away things may seem on the negative side but actually it turns out to be something very positive.  Turning our backs on something that is no longer helpful or useful can actually be very beneficial.  Sometimes we need to make room, have space to grow and flourish. 

 

The danger of course is that we don’t really like empty spaces.  We try to fill the gap with something.  A friend mentioned the other day that she had been looking forward to her break from her studies over the summer but had filled up the days with so much activity and commitments that she feared she wouldn’t have time to relax and have some free time to herself after all.  I remember that when I retired from work, there was a danger of over committing to other things now I had the time.  It seemed that others also thought that I could be a part of this and that and something else ‘now that you’re retired, you’ve got the time’.  I had to learn to use my time wisely.

 

I used to think (and say) that you can’t do away with something unless you have something better to put in its place (referring particularly to church attendance) but over the years I realise that sometimes God wants us to make the space first and ‘declutter’ our commitments to organised stuff, clear out our diaries and just have space and time with Him in order to flourish.  You can’t always see how this will happen until you actually take the first step.  There is a danger of wanting to fill the gap that is left with all sorts of new ideas – we’ve got to do something, anything rather than nothing.  We are tempted to re-invent the gathering and do the same things but in a different way when actually we shouldn’t be doing anything.  What God is trying to do is give us more space, more time just to be with Him without any other paraphernalia.  To not be doing anything is not necessarily a waste of time.  It can actually be a very productive time when things happen to us rather than us trying to make them happen.  We give God a chance to do what He wants in us without us trying to control and manipulate what is going on.  Just let Him have His way in the stillness.  'Be still and know that I am God.'