Mike Walsh

After living in Wyoming for the past 16 years, I have come to realize that in my opinion, spring is the best season here! We are finally through a cold, dark winter and we can look forward to three great seasons ahead. What happens most years is that I often neglect some things that should have been taken care of and when spring comes, there is usually a long list of things that need to be tended to. Usually, I realize that there are some things that need to be cleaned, thrown away and organized.

Sometimes it is the clutter that slows us down from being efficient in getting some of our projects taken care of. We can realize that without some things in our way, we can get a lot more done. Our spiritual lives are in many ways like our natural lives. Sometimes it is the small things that get in the way that steal our productivity and joy. 

The writer of Hebrews wrote these words:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,” Hebrews 12:1-2.

Sometimes it is just a few small things that get in the way that can keep us from being effective. It is not good when our lives become weighed down with things that shouldn’t be stealing from us. In the Old Testament King Solomon got weighed down with 700 wives and 300 concubines. These foreign women, with their false gods, stole his ability to function well and made him unable to perform all that God had for him to do. God had warned the Israelites not to worship other gods (which were false gods) and these women became a huge weight to Solomon. His lack of paying attention to these things cost him more than he could have imagined.

Sometimes if we can just take care of what seems to be a small hindrance, we can set ourselves free to be more effective in our lives. I wrote down a few things that can hinder us in our effectiveness. There could be many things added to this list, but here are a few:

1. Past guilt — God does not want us to live there! Jesus died to cleanse us from our past and we can know that his forgiveness is there for us. He died to set us free, but when we hold onto those things that have already been forgiven, we can keep ourselves bound. I encourage you to pay attention to those areas that you are still holding onto and let them all go.

2. Too many irons in the fire — sometimes we need to take an inventory on the things that are important and the things that are urgent. Sometimes the urgent things crowd out the important things. I have learned that some things can be let go so I am not carrying such a heavy burden to try to do everything. I have learned to distinguish the important from the urgent.

3. Conflicts with other people — sometimes when there are things between us and another person, we can see everything else in our lives through that lens. I am always trying to free myself up from the burden that I can have from a conflict with another person. I try to keep short accounts.

4. Not enough time with Jesus — intimate time with Jesus can set our priorities for our lives. It is such an important part of our life to have a time with Jesus where he can speak to our heart and we can hear from him.  

I encourage you to take an inventory and get rid of those areas that can be a weight and burden and find a way to travel lighter! I pray that we can all live clutter free.

(Mike Walsh is the pastor at Glad Tidings Assembly of God.)