ON THE VANGUARD

SPRING CLEANING
“Stop dwelling on past events and brooding over times gone by; I am doing something new; it’s springing up – can’t you see it? I am making a road in the desert, rivers in the wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:18-19

Today marks the official first day of spring, even though here in Tennessee it has felt like spring for a couple weeks already. The trees are already blooming and allergies are already flaring. Children are set for Spring Break if they haven’t already taken it, and the crisp air is being overtaken once more by the mild warmth of the sun. All these changes point to one thing. It must be time for spring cleaning. Over the next couple weeks I will find myself cleaning areas of the home that have gone neglected for months, such as behind and under the fridge. I will find myself giving clothes to Goodwill, reducing the amount of ‘things’ I have collected, and determining overall what I should keep verses trash. But just as this is a great time for spring cleaning of the physical, it should also be a great time for spring cleaning of the spiritual. This is the season when we would do well to make room for what God is preparing to do in us.
Isaiah 43:18 reminds us to stop being stuck in the past. It is so easy for us to find ourselves living in regret and angry about things we cannot now change. I know this firsthand, as I too have many times wished I could go back in time and slap myself for things I suffer from now. But in the context of spring cleaning, this is the point where we find ourselves going through our old things and either packing them up or getting rid of them. The dwelling on the past is the going through the file cabinet and removing old papers that you no longer need to keep track of. That brooding over times gone by is the same as realizing that that shirt you were holding on to was cool in the 80’s, but really is out of style now.
Isaiah continues in verse 19 by stating that God is doing something new, and even now it is springing up. Notice that the words aren’t, “I am about to do something new,” or “I’m thinking about doing something new.” No the words told to the people are, “I am doing something new.” God is doing something new and even now it is springing up. Think about it is the form of seasons. Winter is officially passed now. Today marks the very first day of spring. Yesterday was still considered the season of winter even though it may have felt like spring. But today is a definite, non-mistaken day where on the calendar we know this as the first day of spring. So it is with God telling us that today, right now, this moment, it is spring time in our life. Today He is doing something new. Today He is making a road in the desert and streams in the wasteland. Today is spring!
This is the time when we need to clean out the closet, scrub down the house, and get rid of the clutter and junk that has dirtied our home. When all the ‘stuff’ is gone, then we have a clean home physically. Yet the same principle is true spiritually. When we do the spring cleaning of our spirit, ridding the sin, the regrets, the pains, and the resentments, we allow more space for the Holy Spirit to come in and make something new in us. It is then that God opens doors that no man can shut, and makes ways where ways do not already exist. We all need to spring clean, in our homes and in our spirits. Today is the first day of spring. Today is the day when God is doing something new. I want all the junk blocking what He has for me removed so that I can take in the abundance He is giving me now.