Clean House

People's perceptions of what it means to clean house are not identical. Some people would be content with simply cleaning the surface without removing deep layers of grime. Others would feel things were clean if clutter was removed from sight even if it was shoved into a drawer. Then there are those who will devote hours of scrubbing, sorting, and disinfecting and still won't be satisfied with the results. It's our definitions of "clean" that vary and can cause conflict and confusion.

Submitting ourselves to God and asking Him to cleanse us doesn't involve a negotiable definition. We don't get to ask God to extricate us from messy situations, but leave us alone in the sinful habits we are comfortable holding on to. We cannot reserve the right to ask God to pull back on His personality and purification process. We either fully submit to Him or we don't submit at all. If all of God does all that God does, we can't surrender any less. This means that we have to be willing to surrender our mental focus, habits, words, relationships, attitude, aspirations, and behaviors.

If we're going to clean house for God we've got to deep clean the whole house by His standards and not our own.

Not Mine

Your will be done in my life, Lord. Not mine, but yours. 

Are we actually content with that? On the surface we are good with those statements while in reality we still want our plans to take place but with God's blessing over them. We're at peace with God's will as long as it matches our agenda, ambitions, and desires. Truly surrendering to His will might mean that we don't end up where we thought we would. This submission dictates that the priorities of God become our priorities and His plans become our plans. 

We've got to decide if we are okay with that or if we are stubbornly going to insist that our way is best. One path leads to contentment & peace regardless of our circumstances and the other creates a tension that we constantly struggle to manage.

Restoration

One of the characteristics of God that I find most appealing is His incredible desire to restore. It's a powerfully attractive quality as we discover the investment of God's energy in bringing us back from the dark side of self-inflicted damage, desperation, and sickness. The truth is that God has always been in the restoration business-it's the way He has told the tale of who He is from the beginning. 

The key to being restored isn't only found in God's willingness however. There has to be a readiness on our part to submit to God's work in bringing us back to a point of being right. Far too often we become so content with our state of sickness and brokenness that we are unwilling to have that removed. The change that healing will bring to our present reality frightens us and so we reject the perfect healing that God is ready to bring. It's a sad circumstance when we have accepted this wrecked condition as the height of the life we strive for. 

Being made right isn't just a reflection of God's ability to heal, but also our submission to His way for our life. It's the healing of our dependency that brings the greatest freedom.