Standing in my kitchen (accurately claimed as the heart of the home); cleaning, washing, fully aware of a new reality—-Something was missing.
The struggle that once dominated my emotions, had become silent. The strength that once fueled weariness was now my guide to peace. As I witnessed the hand of God in the heart of my home, I realized something had shifted…something had changed…something was different.
Do you carry a burden for order? Do you carry a burden for Peace? Do you get overwhelmed with tasks that pile up and as a result, tension and frustration dominate your attitude toward the people around you? If things aren’t just so-so, do you feel overwhelmed and depleted of Joy?
Enters, Order and Peace.
“This year is the year of order”…I heard God whisper… I felt it waving like a banner over my home. If one were to look with spiritual glasses over the horizon of my house, they would see ORDER waving with a fierceness in the wind.
This morning I realized the messes that once weighed heavy on my emotions ensued from not knowing there was order underneath my visibility. God has shown me how to order the ways of this house.
She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness. Proverbs 31
I am now able to watch over the ways of my household without feeling overwhelmed and I realize it has everything to do with order.
Order creates a path to sustainability. Everything God does has Purpose and Order. Everything.
I now am able to establish order in the small recesses of my home; creating a foundation for beauty to live, without being overwhelmed and bound to the day to day up-keep that always seemed to encircle me. Rather now, I am encircling the needs of my home with a strength and direction that can only be explained by His goodness. Let me explain further… There was a time so very recently that the day to day dishes and laundry and homeschooling and meals seemed like a mountain I could never reach the top of. The closets and the windows and the showers seemed to be a battle for which I showed up too late. This may seem so strange, and maybe even insignificant to some, but it was important to me. I longed to have the order and strength to tackle all of the things that needed my attention. I wanted my home, our nest, to be beautiful and clean and restorative and restful. A place to thrive in and explore and pray and hear and worship and share….the list really goes on. However there was a hindrance and frustration to my plan and the enemy used house-keeping to bring weariness to this old soul of mine. BUT, GOD…. He cares about the things that He calls us to do. He would never ask us to do something where He hadn’t already established His plan, power and grace for achievement. And if we are not feeding on His fruit of the Spirit while accomplishing that which He has called us, then maybe we are striving and working from our own flesh. Can you just image the picture of a woman on the front of a magazine vacuuming while partaking in the sweetest of fruits, in a sort of daze of enchantment and enlightenment, with a whirlwind of energy and order and strategy. Well, maybe I am embellishing a little too much here. But the fact is… He cares about us. He has prepared a way for us. His way is perfect and blessed.
The things that lie in the hidden closets away from sight, I am now able to go there and many other places along the way of my day with a sort of inner Strategy that makes all things come together for good. As I care for the deep places, keeping things moving and circulating and clean under my sight, I am able to handle with peace and grace the hiccups that always seem to come up. Let His order come alive in your home. Let go and Let Him.
May you rise early and watch over the ways of your household with a strength that defies gravity.
In Jesus name.