It is hard for me to get into the cleaning mode. Washing the dishes, mopping the floors, cleaning the bathrooms, and dusting the furniture. I am sitting here doing a lot of mental complaining. Cleaning is the least thing I want to do. Matter-of-fact, if I never had to do it, it would be just fine with me, but it's necessary. When it comes to cleaning my house, the longer I wait, the worst things get, and the longer it will take me to do it. So I make a move to attack the bathrooms. First, I need to tackle the hallway bathroom.
As I approach the bathroom, I couldn't help but think, my heart needs a spring cleaning too. How long have I had this sense of sadness. Wow, each room reminds me of some sort of negative emotion.
The bathroom, off the hallway gave me a sense of Despair. I looked at the sink and I felt Frustration. When I looked at the bathtub, I felt Stuck. I looked at the floor, Despair smiled then winked at me. Despair, it seems to hover over me and it encompassed every inch of this bathroom. This bathroom was beginning to feel like a prison to me and I had to exit it.
I can feel God nudging me to not give up, and try another room. So, I go to another room, the guest bedroom. From the hallway the guest bedroom didn't look threatening. So, I said to myself, "this is going to be a piece of cake." I was in this room for only a few minutes, when Sorrow showed its ugly head. I need to really make a difference today, so I decided that I could ignore Sister Sorrow. But Sister Sorrow was determined to get my attention and she tried everything possible. She performed her favorite dance routine, it was all about bad Self-esteem, like it was a waltz. When that didn't work, she tried to dance the foxtrot of Worry my way. No, I am so focused now. I am almost finished with this room. Then she became desperate and determined not to be defeated, and so was I. I could now see the perspiration of sweat on her forehead and I knew she was getting tired. But, she was desperate for my attention, she swung into the full cha-cha-cha dance of Pity, but to not avail. That room was now officially clean. Praise the Lord! One room down and a few more to go.
I moved to the next room. Despair was now so prevalent, because it hasn't left yet. I was feeling better,but not quite myself. I was halfway finished, when I started dusting the furniture, what pops up from out of the dust? Ms. Self-Doubt! Self-Doubt thought she had it going on. She was sneaky too. She knew that Sister Sorrow had failed at her job, but she always thought she was better than Sorrow anyway. Sister Sorrow was a very good dancer, but Self-Doubt was excellent at calisthenics. So she began her routine. She performed the jumping jacks of Hopelessness. That didn't work on me, so she tried the lunges and lunged Uncertainty at me. I ducked and it went over my head. She was becoming frustrated, so she collectively did a bicycle crush of Lack of Confidence, then a one leg push-up of Hesitancy. I was now in the cleaning zone and I wasn't having any of those negative emotions rubbing off on me. I could see that she was going to make a final effort to get me down, so she did a prisoner squat, of Melancholy. I killed it and that room was finished.
I am now in a groove, and almost finished cleaning. When I entered my final room, guess who was there waiting on me? The twins, Anxiety and Depression, and they have the tendency to take on different forms, depending on your age, gender, and cultural background. They knew that I had defeated Sister Sorrow, Despair, and Self-Doubt. They also new that they needed to bring their "A" game. I guess that's why they decided to use the tag team method and they brought their entire gymnastics team. I am not worried and I am fired up and cooking on all cylinders. So let the games begin!
Here comes the artistic gymnastics team. They presented me with their apparatus, the Vault which was Irritability. Then they sent in the Uneven bars, which was Worthlessness and Guilt. They didn't work either. Afterwards, the Balance beam, which was Restlessness. Lastly, they introduced the Floor Exercise, which was Fatigue. What they didn't know, I had a secret weapon that could handle any and all things negative. I called on the name of Jesus and quoted one of my favorite Scriptures, "No weapon that is formed against me shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against me in judgement shalt be condemn." (Isaiah 54:17) I poured out my heart to God and begged Him to rebuke the enemy that was mercilessly nagging me.
Once the name of Jesus was uttered, they all fled. If God is for you, then who can be against you. We all have to deal with hurts, sorrow, sadness, anxiety, despair, self-doubt, and depression, but we have a mighty good, loving and merciful God who is always there at our point of need. No one can stand against the might of His hand. When the enemy strikes, and trust me, he seeks every opportunity to do so, we should never forget that "no weapons formed against us can prosper." I simply had to look God-ward because my foe wanted to distress, depress, and discourage me.
You are in control of your thoughts and how you feel. So choose positive over negative. Choose healing or hurts. Choose joy over sorrow. Choose hope over despair. Choose laughter over sadness. Choose self-confidence over self-doubt.
"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." (Hebrews 10:22)
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