A Single Reflection
Column by Eileen Hershberger

With the onset of spring and the promise of summer hovering around the edges, the world is primed and bustling with the ‘wonderful’ things we call garage sales in my part of the world. I have such a love/hate relationship with garage sales. It's fun to stop on a whim as you pass one and see if perhaps, you will find something really great at an unbelievable price and will leave there feeling like the luckiest person in the world with your purchase. On the flip side ... getting ready for a garage sale is less fun. Digging through closets, sifting through bookshelves and CD racks, and cleaning out drawers and cupboards tries ones patience. The never-ending mess it creates makes me wonder if the effort will be worth the result. It has been a week since I found out that we were doing a garage sale and while the pile of things to get rid of has been steadily growing, I am getting tired of looking at it. And where does all this stuff come from anyway? Did I not just clean out a bunch of stuff at last year’s sale?

I had to wonder, how often do I approach my walk with God in the same way? Some days it feels like I hit the jackpot and God is so close. There is nothing in my life that I know He can’t handle and I walk in the confidence, peace, and knowledge of the goodness and greatness of God. Life is a chorus of praise and thanksgiving, with real glimpses of love and mercy splashing across my day. And other times, its drudgery. God’s cleaning out the closets and getting rid of the things in my life that I no longer need, and suddenly those splashes of mercy and love seem like a distant memory and I find myself wondering what happened. I know God is asking me to be honest with Him and that His housecleaning is to restore order and make room for new things in my life. But sometimes it is hard to let go of those old things, mostly because I don’t want to make the effort required to get rid of them. I’d rather just throw it in the closet where it’s out of sight. Maybe it’s a bad attitude, or a bit of anger I feel justified to hang on to, or a touch of unforgiveness because after all, what happened is almost impossible to forgive, and surely God will understand. Or maybe it’s a dash of pride and self righteousness. Whatever it is, I have learned that throwing those kinds of things in a closet or drawer only creates an awful mess to be cleaned up later. Only with God’s help can I truly be ‘cleaned out’ and the junk in my life dealt with.

And just like having garage sales, so is God's cleaning out of our lives ... you can’t ever just have one and think you’ve gotten rid of all the stuff that is cluttering up your life. God’s housecleaning is an ongoing, necessary part of being a Christian. And unlike my garage sale which has no promise of a great return, God’s cleaning out will be well worth the effort required. The return is of the heavenly kind.

About the Author: Eileen Hershberger is a full-time student pursuing a degree in Early Childhood Education, and a part-time server. She enjoys reading, music, travel and baseball when not working or studying.

© 2008 Eileen Hershberger.