"Nicole, someone broke into both of our cars... stuff is everywhere," these were the words my mom uttered as she came in from taking the girls to the bus. I quickly went outside to survey the damage and assess the value of the contents missing.
The damage was minimal because the doors were unlocked allowing for easy access to take whatever the thieves could get their hands on. As I opened the driver side door I saw the contents of my glove box and center console scattered throughout the car. I looked throughout the car quickly realizing that the thief attempted to take every last penny they could find. There was nothing of value (to them) in the glove box, so they chose to just throw it out, leaving a huge mess to clean up.
My mom worked to clean up the truck and I cleaned out the car. We both had trash bags in hand, as we sifted through the items in the vehicles to pick out the things of value from the things that were indeed trash.
Admittedly our cars were in need of a good "cleaning out."
As I sifted though the contents of my car I was reminded of the verse in John 10:10;
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy..."
It the middle of the night and under the cover of darkness someone wanted something that never belonged to them in the first place.
Immediately after seeing my vehicles in complete disarray I was forced to clean it out. I was forced to clean up the things I had left to sit and take up unnecessary space on the floorboard of my car. I was actually grossed out by a few of the things I found... after all, I do have five kiddos. I was also excited to find a few items that I thought I had lost.
In the same way we never desire unfavorable, bad or uncomfortable situations to happen in our lives but there are certainly times that they seem to come in like a violent tornado.
There are times that we leave the door unlocked for the thief to easily access our life, giving him unsolicited permission to 'steal' from every compartment and crevasse. He comes to steal what belongs to someone else for his own purposes and pleasure. He comes to rob your joy and leaves you to sift through the trash to see if there is anything left of value.
In response to the thief in our life,
Jesus had a response...
"...I have come that they (you) may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10b
After the thief has come in and left everything in disarray, there will be a period of time when we need to begin to clean up the trash that we have ignored for way to long. Often that ignored trash leaves a lasting aroma.
But...
After you start to sift through the compartments of your life, you will begin to discover that there were things that Satan never stole because they were of no value to him.
Jesus is the restorer and can make all things new.
Have you left the door to your heart and life unlocked?
Have you given the thief access to things that never belonged to him?
Is there trash that needs to be sifted through so that the valuables can be found?
There are necessary 'clean-up' periods in our lives. There are times when we need to take a good look at the things that are of value and sift them out of the trash.
Today will you get a big black trash bag and start to clean out the compartments and crevasses you have been ignoring?