The Junk Drawer

I am thankful for my junk drawer. You know the one...every extra little thing that doesn't have a particular spot to call home is stored there...or maybe it's just a convenient spot to stick something until later when you are cleaning...

What? You don't have a junk drawer?

Oh...you have a junk closet in that unused bedroom...the one that stores all the bags of clothes you need to return to the store but just haven't had the time...or the gorgeous lamp that you just had to have because it was 75% off but you really don't have a place to use it and you hate to get rid of it cause it was such a good deal and...

Pardon me? You have neither of these handy dandy storage places?

Oh, I see you have a junk room that houses so many unfinished projects you could live for 100 years and not finish them all...and there's also...

Excuse me? You always put everything in its place and never just stick something away for a more convenient time?

Well,congratulations on your pristine and completely organized home! If you ever pay me a visit, please just look the other way...or at least don't open the last drawer on the left in the kitchen, or the closet in the front bedroom...

Yes, I am thankful for a junk drawer to have a place to hide stuff I would rather deal with at another time.

But what about those things I stick away in the junk drawer/closet/room of my

heart?

Maybe they aren't really bad things so much as things that I would rather deal with at a more convenient time. Like...

Harsh words spoken in haste...I never apologized

Promises not kept...surely they have forgotten about it

Smoldering aggravations...well I had planned this for weeks and then that had to come up

Grudges that I won't let go...she never even once acted like she was sorry and he knew he had hurt my feelings

Needs not met that I am perfectly capable of doing...I have enough to do without helping them out...let someone else worry about it

Things I just don't want anyone to know about...nobody saw or heard and it makes me uncomfortable to talk about it

And one that I am borrowing from Lori at Laced With Grace...Delayed Obedience...I know you want me to do it Lord, but maybe later, ok?

I don't want the Lord to open that particular door of my heart only to have an avalanche of "hidden junk" come tumbling down.

There is a song from way back that talks about this...

My heart is like a house; one day I let my Saviour in,

There are many rooms where we would visit now and then.

But then one day He saw that door, I knew the day had come too soon,

I said Jesus, I'm not ready for us to visit in that room.

There's a place in my heart, where even I wouldn't go,

I have some things hidden there, I don't want anyone to know.

But He handed me the key with tears of love on His face,

He said, I want to make you free – let Me go in your secret place.

So I opened up the door and the two of us walked in,

I was so ashamed that I'd revealed my hidden sin.

But when I think about that room, I'm not afraid anymore,

For I know my hidden sin, no longer hides behind the door.

Father God, in Jesus' name, I pray that you will take the key to this junk room in my heart, open it wide and clean out all the things that might hinder my walk with You and destroy my witness to others. I need your help, Lord, because on my own I can do nothing. Please create in me a clean heart and freshen, renew, and revive Your Spirit in me.