Spring Cleaning – Usable or Unusable

​This last year has found me going through closets, drawers, cupboards and the garage determining what to keep and what to eliminate. I formed some criteria to help in the process:
1. Is it useful?
2. Do I really need it?
3. Is it of value to me or someone else?

Upon this task of evaluation, I found myself asking some personal questions:
1. Am I useful?
2. Am I really needed?
3. Am I of value to someone else?
The life story of a young man named Saul came to my mind (1 Samuel 10). Saul was the first king of Israel. The priests and judges had led Israel up to this point. However, now we find them crying out for a king. Why, you might ask? They wanted to be like the other nations around them.
This was in total opposition to what God had planned for them. So, in God’s sovereignty, He gives them exactly what they wanted – a king named Saul.
Kind of scary! God giving us just what we want?
So began the rocky, tumultuous journey of King Saul’s life and the lives of God’s people. Both Saul and God’s people went from being usable to unusable by choosing their will instead of God’s will!
The early years of Saul’s reign were quite different than the latter years. 1 Samuel 10 states that in the beginning, “God changed Saul’s heart.” The Holy Spirit was at work in his life. As Saul’s power grew, so did his pride and arrogance. He quenched the Spirit, stopped seeking God, and quickly went from usable to unusable.
Saul suffered from feelings of inferiority and struggled big time with insecurity, jealousy, and pride, which led to impulsiveness and deceit. He vacillated between his feelings and his convictions. He was selfish, self-centered, revengeful, suspicious, and scheming. He became defiant towards God and the responsibility God had given him. Saul never let God change his heart; he became unusable and never became God’s man.
Taking time to genuinely look at our lives in evaluation before the Lord is a good thing. David wrote, “Search me, Oh God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24)
Self-centeredness became the trap Satan set for Saul, and he stepped right into it. What does self-centeredness look like? Webster defines it as “being independent of outside force or influence, self-sufficient. Concerned with one’s own desires, needs, or interests.”
WOW! Ever been there? Ever done that? I have!
At some point, Saul made the choice to create his own destiny. This self-centeredness led him to a very “alone” place, tormented by evil spirits!
“Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him.” (1 Sam. 16:14-23).
This is where David comes into the picture! He is summoned to play his harp before the king. Saul’s soul was soothed for a while, but ultimately his jealousy and self-centeredness destroyed him. He became consumed with “his desires” and “his needs.” He forgot who he was and what God had called him to do.
It has been said, “Life is so daily.” Yes, it is, but so is surrender of our will to God’s will. It is a daily exercise we have to participate in. Cleaning out those cluttered, messy unorganized closets, drawers, and garages of our lives has to be a priority. Eliminating what is not important, useful, and of value to God and substituting it with His will and purpose gives us the key to being usable for God. God’s desire for our lives will always be about us yielding to His will, so that His glory might shine through us.
“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Eph. 5:14-21)
Anyone in need of some closet, drawer, or garage cleaning? Jesus is able and willing to help!
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.” (Psalm 51:10, 12)