The Great Flood

My family prays with the expectation and anticipation to receive, and our prayers are usually answered quickly and in dramatic ways. However, over the past year, our prayers have been seemingly lost in the ethers. When this happens with my spiritual direction clients, I recommend they clean house. Clean out their emotional, spiritual and physical baggage.
The first step is usually to clean out your physical home, your car, your closets, your garage, and your work space. Look around and ask yourself, “Are these areas clean and uncluttered? Are they filled with things that I use, that I absolutely love and bring me much joy? Or are they filled with things I never use, that zap my energy every time I dust or move them? Are my spaces cluttered and disorganized, robbing me of precious time and money every time I need to find something? Is my clutter keeping me from relationships with my children, family and friends, out of shame, guilt and feelings of overwhelm? Am I overly attached to my stuff? Is my lifestyle ridged and inflexible? Is my stuff blocking me from the blessings God has in store for me?
In most cases, our physical surroundings reflect our inner spiritual life.
When I asked myself these questions, the answer was a big fat “YES!” So practicing what I teach, our family planned to clean out every room. We began this venture on Saturday. My plan was to finish by the following Friday. I was in a hurry and on a mission when I was moving one closet into the other, without thoroughly releasing things. My wise daughter caught me in the act, called me on this behavior and said, “Mom, if we are going to do this, we need to do it right and get rid of stuff!” She was correct; yet, I was resistant and not wanting to do all that was required.
It was clear that our house needed a thorough cleaning out and I needed to release a lot more than I was willing. Monday morning as our family went about our day away from home; God had other plans and sent the great flood. We arrived home to find water running out of our house into our yard.
Tuesday morning during meditation I asked, “O.K. God, what is this about?” I received; it is the story of Noah and the ark, of course! “Really,” I said, “What does that mean?”
I knew the story of Noah’s Ark, it is a favorite children’s bible story among Jewish, Christian and Muslim faith traditions. The question is what does his story have to do with my house flooding?
Noah, an inspired man, routinely communed with God through prayer and meditation. He followed instructions and did whatever was required for God to use him in a great way. Noah had to be willing to release all of his belongings, keeping only what was essential to move forward and to begin anew. He had to trust that God would provide all he required to begin his new life and that God would give him signs of hope along the way.
Of course, the flood began in my bathroom creating the most damage in my closet, room, office and kitchen: my areas of the house. Who was the one in resistance? Who was the one being forced to release more stuff? Who is praying the prayer of Jabez; praying for God to expand my territory for the common good of all? ME!
So the questions are Becky, “Are you willing to release all that is necessary to keep moving forward as Noah did. Are you willing to listen to the call of God? Are you willing to give up all of the non-necessities in your life, things that you do not use or need now or in the future; things that take your time away from living a full and happy life; things that bind you to the status quo? Are you willing to trust that God will provide all that is required to do what you are called here to do?”
These are tough questions.
Well, the flood carried away several things which I was unsure, now the rest is up to me and my family to finish cleaning out and releasing blocks to our spiritual future. How committed are we to do the will of God? I guess we will see, as our garbage cans begin to fill up.
The story of Noah teaches us to purge those things that block us from God and keep those things that connect us. We are created as conduits for God to work in and through us. By cleaning out and releasing our clutter, we form a vacuum which opens the passages for us to receive and to keep the flow of God energy moving in and through us. When we horde things and keep things thinking “I’ll need it someday,” we are living in a mind set of fear and of lack. We are not living in line with spiritual teachings. All through scripture, we are called to trust God for all of our needs. We are told of an abundant universe, and that God is our great provider.
Don’t wait for a flood, go ahead, clean house.