Spiritual discipline of garage cleaning

I am looking forward to spring cleaning. Perhaps fueling this enthusiasm is just the idea of being able to open the windows and be out side after this long winter; but in any case I am looking forward to warmer weather and throwing some stuff away.

I have an annual ritual with my garage. I open up the doors pull out the cars and park them on the street and then proceed to take everything out. Everything! All that stuff ruthlessly goes into three piles; throw away, give away and keep. Once the garage is clean from all the winter crud only what is in the keep pile goes back in. This is a huge day of work but one that brings a great feeling of freedom and accomplishment when it's over.

I have found that when I intentionally strip down to the bare essentials I have a lot more freedom and peace of mind to really do what I want. Elimination might just be the break you need.

In Exodus 16 when God's people were hungry in the wilderness He supplied for them with manna. Every morning when they woke up manna would be on the ground. The instructions for manna were very simple. Harvest as much and eat as much as you want for the day, take a lot or take a little, and on the day before Sabbath take twice as much. But at the end of the day, except for the day before Sabbath, discard what you collected or it will be full of worms and stink.

They could have had as much as they wanted as long as they prepared for the day of rest and eliminated what was left over before they went to sleep. Before they could rest they had to eliminate some stuff.

One of the reasons that rest seems to be elusive is because we are stockpiling manna instead of eliminating it. We are piling up stuff just in case we might need. Only to find that, while it may not be full of worms, it stinks and feels overwhelming. What we thought we had ended up having us.

One of the simplest things you can do this spring to grow in your dependence on God and at the same time thank Him for His provisions is to clean out your garage.

Robert Hurtgen is a husband, father, minister and writer. Read more of him at rohurtgen.com.