Daily devotional, January 15, 2024 The Junk Drawer
"I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure."
Psalm 16:8-9
Almost all of us have it in our homes. That drawer which holds odds and ends, receipts that may or may not mean something someday, random keys, loose change, pens, junk mail, and more. Things we think we will go back to sort someday, but usually, it just piles up until we forget about it. Some people take time to declutter it, while others just give up and reassign another junk drawer in the house.
In our Christian walk, we too have junk drawers in our lives. Maybe it is that part of our memory where we store thoughts, sentiments. emotions and reactions that we think are better shoved elsewhere. We choose not to deal with these right away because we think that we do not yet have the time, and the mental and physical energy to deal with them.
But just like the junk drawers in our house, thoughts and emotions in our spiritual junk drawer, should be regularly dealt with. We need to sort these out, discard battles we do not need to fight, dispose negative reactions that are misplaced, and treasure positive memories that merit a legitimate space in our hearts.
In his letter to the Philippian Church, St. Paul the Apostle reminded early Christians to focus on the positive. By training our minds to retain and meditate only what is good, we can have peace and contentment in our hearts.
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Philippians 4:8
When we meditate on these things, we get to remind ourselves about what is truly important in our lives. We get to appreciate others more, and we get to encourage ourselves to follow such model. Intentionally reminding oneself of such virtues is the antithesis for anxiety and depression, which in opposite, focuses and continually meditates on sadness, grief, unfortunate events, regrets, worries, anger and fears.
So what are the possible examples of “stuff” in your spiritual junk drawer that you should clean out? Well these are the emotions that you suddenly feel when you remember something that is usually trivial and not-so-high impact in your daily life. It may be a small, random emotion but it could build up and cause you to say and do things subconsciously rooted to that unresolved emotion or feeling. Here are a few examples:
1. Unrequited friendship and love.
2. Over-extended grief over a loss of someone or something.
3. Thoughts of vengeance over a minor altercation or misunderstanding (grave anger is usually not in the spiritual junk drawer, it usually occupies the mind and soul everyday).
4. Covetous desire for a material object or experience (travel goals, shopping goals).
5. Unmet emotional and material needs rooted from childhood.
6. Unforgiveness.
7. Laundry list of one (or more) person’s offenses against you.
8. Disappointments over oneself and others
It is not easy to totally eliminate the emotions listed above. Most if not all of them are valid after all. However, since we do not get down and find time to sort these out, these may all just get bottled up and explode at one time.
For instance, do you remember a time you just blurted out the truth in anger on one person in your life because you have just been trying to be very patient with that person but she has crossed the line this time? That boil over is a classic example of a spiritual junk drawer that you can no longer close as it is way too filled to the brim. Overwhelmingly full spiritual junk drawers translate to overwhelming emotions.
To avoid tense situations that destroy our inner peace, we should keep in mind the Lord’s command to find joy in Him:
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:4-7
When we declutter our spiritual junk drawers, and re-purpose it into a chest that holds the Lord’s words, truth, and promises, we tend to have a more joyful outlook towards life. Renowned British Evangelist Charles Spurgeon underscored that delighting in the Lord helps keep us in peace among ourselves and others:
“People who are very happy, especially those who are very happy in the Lord, are not apt either to give offense or to take offense. Their minds are so sweetly occupied with higher things, that they are not easily distracted by the little troubles which naturally arise among such imperfect creatures as we are. Joy in the Lord is the cure for all discord.”
Charles Spurgeon
Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to ponder on Philippians 4:1-9, and Psalm 33:1-12 to dig deeper on today’s topic.
Reflection Question: hat is inside your spiritual junk drawer? Is it high time sort it out?
Conversation with the Lord: Heavenly Father, thank you for the opportunity to sort out my emotions and follow your lead. Give me the confidence to just surrender all my hurts, fears, unresolved issues, as well as anxiety to you, so that I could fully lean on your power and enjoy a peaceful life abiding in you. Amen.