After all of my children married and left the house, it was time to downsize so I sold my three bedroom home on two large lots and moved into a nice, two bedroom condo in a complex closer to work where the maintenance and landscaping are not my responsibility. However, taking out the garbage is.
Instead of just dragging a can to the curb, I now have to drive my garbage around to a dumpster. It’s nicely landscaped around the dumpster, but you have to park your vehicle and walk up to the dumpster, open the door and toss the garbage in. A few months ago when I was going through this ritual, the Lord talked to me about taking out the garbage.
I had tossed the bags inside of the dumpster and started walking back to my car when I realized I had not shut the door to the dumpster. I went back and shut it and it then started the crushing process. I heard the Lord say, ‘You can take the garbage out but unless you close the door, nothing happens.’ Then, He started downloading.
When we take the garbage out but don’t shut the door, we can smell the odor from the dumpster. Not only do we smell it, but others do as well. Also, if the door is not shut, the compacting mechanism will not engage. When it works right, the compacting mechanism crushes and changes the shape of the trash until it is no longer recognizable and ready for permanent disposal. So, shutting the door after taking out the trash is vital.
We all have “garbage” in our lives, things we want to get rid of. This may include, but not be limited, to misplaced priorities, distractions, wrong attitudes, harmful relationships, offenses, idolatry, bad habits, and overt sin. Just tossing it out is not enough. We have to shut the door. If we don’t, it won’t get taken care of so we can reach in and pick it back up again. It’s smelly to everyone that comes in contact with us, and it will remain as-is rather than being crushed and taken away for good.
If we want the garbage removed from our lives, the process is simple, whether they be great or small. All we have to do is give them to the Lord, shut the door and turn away. He’ll do the rest. He is faithful to take all of it, make it unrecognizable and where is no scent of it on us or around us. Psalms 103:11-12 says, “For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
What an amazing, wonderful Lord!
Prayer Power for the Week of March 2, 2015
This week, take an inventory of what may need to be disposed of in your life; take it to the Lord and let Him eliminate it so you won’t be able to go back and pick it up again. Make sure that there is no trace left and that the area is completely cleansed and sanitized. Then fill the area with the Word that cleanses and renews. Ask God to create in you a clean heart and renew a right spirit within you. Continue to pray for those being persecuted and even martyred for their Christian faith. Pray for national repentance and that we, as God’s people, would take the admonition to humble ourselves, pray and turn from our wicked ways so that God would hear and heal our land. Pray for revival to ignite our churches and spread throughout the nation and the world. Lift up our leaders and remember Israel as you pray for God’s purposes on the earth (Psalm 51:10; Rom. 12:2; Eph. 5:26; Psalm 103:11-12).
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