Clearing the Mess to Make Way for the Masterpiece

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Posted by: Leah Gartner, Director of Marketing | Thursday, December 19th, 2024 ( 4:15pm)

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. — Philippians 3:13-14

Several years ago my husband and I bought a new house. The upstairs was finished; white kitchen, tile backsplash, wood floors, neutral gray wall color…it was very on trend for 2018. Coming from our “starter home” – a handy man special; did this person even own a measuring tape or a level? – it felt like a dream. It was move-in ready, and to be honest probably a little too nice for our old used and borrowed furniture. Coming from a place that needed constant fixing, it felt so good to be in a house that was not only done but done the right way.   

The starter home we were moving from had a very small basement with basically no storage, so I considered myself pretty good at letting go of things. Once the kids grew out of clothes, or stopped playing with certain toys, I would sell or donate them. If I grew out of certain clothes, which definitely happened after having two kids, I would clear it out of the house. Making my husband throw out his ratty old shirts from high school, no problem. Spring cleaning  was my  favorite holiday; I loved clearing out a closet and getting stuff out of my house that “no longer sparked joy,” because clutter does not bring me joy at all.  

However, in our new house we had a full unfinished basement. It was a basic box, a blank slate, full of potential and possibility. Since there were no designated spaces, it was also one large storage dump. When we were moving in, any box that I was unsure about where it should go went down in the basement. Surprisingly for a person that is pretty good at letting things go…I sure ended up with a lot of boxes downstairs.  

Not only did boxes from our old house get moved in, but this time when the kids grew out of clothes instead of bagging things up and giving them away, mysteriously those bags ended up in the basement too. Old tax forms, medical records, books I was done reading, extra stuff I bought at Costco, pretty much anything I didn’t want to deal with ended up down there. It quickly became a place where things went to die; out of sight, out of mind.  

This new method of “organizing” really seemed to work for a while. I could keep the upstairs looking beautiful and ready for company at a moment’s notice, while the downstairs was a total disaster zone. Eventually I sent my kids down there to play. My daughter set up a slime table, and my son shot nerf darts and raced matchbox cars. Who cared if they didn’t clean it up. I could just close the door and pretend like none of it was there... until the time came to finish the basement.  

My husband and I began to dream about what the basement could be. We could add another bedroom and bathroom, have a place to work out and get healthy. An area to host friends and family, have game night, and basically be the fun house where everyone wanted to hang out. But there was something standing in the way of that amazing dream…boxes and boxes of stuff!! How did we get so much stuff?!!  We had a new vision for our basement, but to get there we had to get rid of all the useless junk standing in the way. I wish we could have just gotten a dumpster and backed it up to the house and thrown out everything in one day. But as we all know, purging is not a quick and painless process. 

One by one, we opened each and every box. Tax returns from 10 years ago, dumpster. Two boxes full of beautiful baby blankets, keep two and give the rest away. Skates that no longer fit, donate. Cords that didn’t go to anything, boxes of business envelopes, CD’s, cassette tapes, (yes I am that old), a gift bag full of gift bags, (ok I still have this in my basement, gift bags are pricey!), gone. You get the picture. We forced ourselves to open each box and actually look at the contents to evaluate if it was still useful for our current lives. Was each item something that we wanted to keep or was it in fact keeping us from what we really wanted?  

It seemed overwhelming at first, but little by little we cleared everything out and one day we stood in our empty basement. We had gone through everything that was in our way and we were ready to prepare for the future we wanted.  

You are all very smart people so I’m guessing by now you know where I am going with this very long analogy. We are starting a new year, it is a brand new, never been used 365 days of potential and possibility. Many of us will go through the exercise of dreaming about the future, goal setting, and really talking with God about His plans for this year. But what about all the stuff? All of things that we have been hiding in the basement? The things we know are there but we don’t what to deal with, because it makes our lives look really good when company comes over if we just keep the door closed? Unfortunately those boxes don’t just go away, in fact, they find a way to multiply.  

What if instead of only worrying about the boxes in my basement, I took the time to get out the old hurts that were never really healed and brought it before God so He could make my heart whole again, and he could carry the box of my hurts for me? What if I talked to a trusted counselor to learn the freedom that forgiveness really brings, another box to let go of? What if I stopped going back to that bad habit that was keeping me bound up and I never really liked anyway, took that box to the dumpster, and threw it out? What if I picked up that box labeled regrets and cleared it out by finally asking someone for forgiveness for a hurt I caused but was too proud to admit it? 

The point is, it takes time to go through all of this stuff. As my husband often says, “Life is not a romantic comedy that neatly wraps up in two hours. Real life takes work.” It takes work to sort through and process and let go of what is behind to make room for the dreams and visions that God has for us. But it is so worth it. When we finally stand in the middle of our cleared-out space, God will begin to move in new and beautiful things that we never thought possible. He can turn our mess into a masterpiece if we just open the door. So this new year, open that door and let Him in. There isn’t a single mess God can’t help you overcome. 

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