I spent part of New Year’s Eve cleaning out my clothes’ closet. I took everything out of my closet and laid the stuff in stacks around my room. Then I began. Toss. Keep. Give away. Store in a different place. Reorganize. Somehow the arrival of the New Year beckoned me to start over again.  To think in new ways. To look for new strategies.

Magazine articles about decluttering and organization called to me.

I was in a ruthless mood. If I didn’t love it, it went no matter how much I wondered if it might come back into style in a year or if it might fit me better later.

The process became spiritual.

I picked up a blouse. I thought of my mother and her changing memory. The blouse represented a shopping trip we’d had. I felt saddened and a deeper realization of my time with her changing as she ages.

A dress touched my memory of days gone by and folks I love who I don’t really see anymore. Tears filled my eyes as I allowed the memory to fill my heart.

Another outfit took me back to a season of my life. Ah, those were good days.

The blouse I would wear for my anniversary this week. More smiles.

Ah, there was that item that needs hemming and one that needs a button.

And those two little dresses I bought for my granddaughter for Spring. I smiled as I thought of her.

Almost like the year in review except it went much further.

My emotions ranged from gratitude to delight to satisfaction to joy to melancholy to sorrow to ambivalence to regret.

I was both glad I could get back into those pants I love and yet frustrated that I had a lot of work to do in order to be able wear that cute skirt.

The finished project gave me satisfaction. My life would be simpler. More organized. Less stressful.

And the project reminded me of how I must evaluate my life periodically and the usefulness of the things that fill it. I posed these questions to myself and now, I pose them to you:

What is really important in your life?

What is being ignored? What needs repair?

What needs to go to make room for the things that “fit” today?

What needs to be given new priority?

What needs to be grieved? Appreciated? Planned for?

The New Year is a gift. God promises us that His heart for us is to give us future and hope. So allow His Spirit to do the work inside you that will prepare you for the new day. Value the old things that are foundational and drink in the new knowing that God’s plans for you are good. A new year. A new day. A new beginning.

Ecclesiastes 3:1, 3:6

 To everything there is a season,
      A time for every purpose under heaven: 
…A time to gain, And a time to lose; 
      A time to keep, 
And a time to throw away; 

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The end of the year beckons us to remember. What have we done well this year? Where have we gained ground? Have we grown spiritually, emotionally, and mentally? Where have we failed? Missed the mark? Wasted the treasure of life?

True reflection on one’s life can be painful, especially when we must admit that we didn’t keep any of those 2011 New Year’s Resolutions! Yet the purpose of our reflection is to refocus not to condemn.

How can we see and hear more clearly what God is saying to us at the end of a year?

While typical New Year’s Resolutions are things like spend more time with my family, organize more, lose weight, spend less money, etc., the  commonality seems to be this need to refocus our lives.

How do we refocus our lives?

Intentional introspection requires a quiet spirit submitting to the voice of God who will lead us to remember, reflect, refocus, and resolve.

So why do we so often fail at these ‘resolutions’? I purpose that we either failed to hear God’s voice to begin with or perhaps even more painful to admit is that we failed to heed His voice after we did hear.

When we see the burning bush, we must value it enough to turn aside, take off our shoes, and pay attention! And when we hear the still, small voice, we must cherish His quiet revelations and respond by giving our heart to follow that voice.

Will you take time to quiet your heart and soul and listen?

Will you heed the gentle voice of God’s Spirit who always leads us into truth?

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I have found that God is not hesitant to ask me to walk through wilderness, desert, north winds, and mountainous terrains of my soul and spirit. The lessons I have learned as I have faced the uncomfortable places have greatly transformed me.

I think that most of us who are believers in Christ can identify many situations where God has asked us to be uncomfortable. From my salvation on, I can think of times when God’s invitation was to allow Him to change me IN AND THROUGH the uncomfortable place.

Why would God choose to work that way?

God, who knows each of us so intimately, much more than we know our own selves, has a plan for us. Scripture tells us that He intends for us all to be “conformed into the image of His own dear son.” This transformation requires change. Most of us resist change. We cling to what we know, even when it is not working.

Emotional and spiritual discomfort can teach us so much. When I feel uncomfortable emotionally, I ask myself, “What is going on underneath this discomfort? Am I afraid? Angry? Feeling a need to control? A need to rescue when God is not asking me to? What is God saying?”

A truth that has deeply influenced me in the last few years is something my counselor told me once. He said something like, “It’s not your job to make things comfortable for people in your lives but rather to help them mature.”  He challenged my mindset and asked me to consider thinking differently.  I have found that my default response of trying to fix things for others often was a detriment between them and God, them and their path of maturity, them and their opportunity to grow.

I have learned, most of the time, to back off in the moments when I sense others are struggling to express themselves, or struggling to deal with their stuff, or struggling to be responsible, or… . In other words, I have learned not to rescue others from discomfort. I have learned not to be so uncomfortable with discomfort – mine or others!

While I have learned to back off  fixing other people’s discomfort, I have also learned to embrace my own discomfort. I have learned to look at it as a gift when it is a result of God asking me to change or showing me a place where I need healing.

We can opt out of facing our discomfort. God’s heart for us doesn’t include forcing us, having created us with a free will. Yet He invites us to live fully and to allow Him to change us.  

So the next time you feel that inner discomfort, ask yourself if it is an invitation from God. Perhaps He is signaling you that your uncomfortable waters are a part of His beautiful plans.

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