December Newsletter 2018
The Closet In Your Head
By George
Some years ago, I was in a car accident that pretty seriously messed up my body. A chiropractor was recommended and for several months I had ongoing treatments. One day as he was working on me, he matter-of-factly shared a piece of information that I have never forgotten.
“I was at a doctor’s conference last week,” he said. “The speaker told us to go back to our offices and clean out our closets. Without exception, business goes up.”
Business goes up…when you clean out the closets, business goes up. Figure that one out!
The reason is because a junky closet in the office equals a corresponding junky closet in your head. Makes sense, really, when you think about it.
You know the junk in the closet is there and you carry around that awareness in your head. You intend to get to it someday, but in the meantime, you stuff that intention away in the closet of your mind, and carry it around with you.
It may bother you, but you don’t admit it. You don’t think about it. But really you do, subconsciously… and it saps your energy.
The closet in your head will get cleaned out when you clean out the physical closet in your office…or in your house, for that matter.
Have you ever had a bunch of junk that you pushed into a corner somewhere? It piles up, you walk by it over and over again, but you feel you don’t have time to clean it up or organize it. Either that, or you dread dealing with it, so you procrastinate, until the thought, “I’ll deal with it another day” becomes a pattern.
Let’s now consider the opposite.
One day you get out of bed, maybe a little steamed up over that junk that keeps bothering you, and you resolve to clean it up. So you clean it up. Maybe you figure out a constructive way to organize it or store it. Maybe you go out and buy a shelf, or a bunch of stackable bins. Maybe you throw it away. However you conquer the mess, when you conquer it…ah, how good it feels!
Then, there is the issue of all the wasted time you might spend looking for something because you don’t have an organized system of filing or storing things.
I used to have some trouble with depression, and along the way, I discovered that if I would take a section of my office and clean it, well…that would give me a tremendous lift in my mental outlook and help me shake the depression.
When we were in the process of building the new web site, I needed an important document. I had a sinking feeling inside because I wasn’t sure where it was. I have moved a couple of times in the last few years and some of my important stuff went into storage. That makes it more difficult to find things when I need them. My present office is pretty small, so it is a constant challenge to keep things organized. Ahh…but the Lord helped me.
I prayed and He said, “It’s right under your nose.” I went into my office and opened a box of records stored in three ring binders. I found the one I was looking for and went through the whole book but didn’t find the document I was looking for. I sat there a while wondering, “How could it be right under my nose?” Then I dug further in the box and found another binder containing the same material. Well, I didn’t know I had two of them. I opened it up and there was the document I needed. It was right under my nose, just like the Lord had said.
(Being able to hear the Lord’s voice is a good thing.)
So what about that closet in the back of your head? Could the illustration go further than junk in the closets that reside in your office or home? Absolutely!
There may be many things that we have crammed into that closet that hinders our walk, our efficiency as Christians, and honestly, makes us unhappy.
What about unforgiveness? Could there be several cases of unforgiveness that you have crammed into the closet? Unforgiveness can really hinder our relationship with God and with others. It can be a heavy weight we are carrying around in the closet. Unforgiveness can make us unhappy and crabby.
I would suggest gathering with two close Christian friends you can trust and endeavor to be totally honest with yourself in their presence. With their help and support go through forgiveness prayers for anyone the Holy Spirit brings to your awareness. This is a way to really empty out that closet in your head. You’ll be amazed at the difference it will make.
What else may be crammed into the closet?
Have you ever walked around with something God asked you to do, but you haven’t done it? Usually, we procrastinate on such assignments because we are afraid. It may be something that will really force us out of our comfort zone. It may be something that is very hard to do?
On the other hand it may be something small that we just don’t think is important.
Remember that Jesus said,
“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; (Luke 16:10 NASB).
If we don’t do the small things God asks us to do, He won’t give us the bigger assignments. Then we will become stuck in our growth as a Christian.
Well, the solution to that log jam is to do it. Just do it!
Cleaning out the closet in our head can be quite a project. The fact of the matter is that it has to be done if we are going to move ahead and prosper in our Christian walk.
May God’s abundant, loving and enabling grace be poured out upon you as you ponder cleaning out the closet in your head.
A special thank you to our friend Kate for helping Lorraine cut a mat board to fit our little door for the photo’s for this article. God bless the desires of your heart!
Merry Christmas
and God Bless Everyone!
By Lorraine
A special thank you to our faithful givers, you are very important to our work for the Kingdom and we thank God for you!
We are always looking for new givers and no amount is too small to give. We hope that you would prayerfully consider a one time gift or a monthly gift to this ministry. It is the ministry the Lord has put in our hearts and hands to do for Him. We are honored to be part of the work for Jesus.
God is doing a new thing in our ministry and we are excited to see what the Lord has in store for this coming new year.
Up until now you needed to find our web site by typing in the address bar on the internet https://www.georgeandlorraine.com. Now you can google us in the search bar by typing only georgeandlorraine.com.
Christmas Memories
These are some boxes Lorraine decorated to look like a barn with a matching silo. Created for her Dad in 2012.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
In His Service,
George and Lorraine Halama