Empty me out, fill me with You
Lord there is nothing I can give to You
I lay down my life here at Your feet
You give me life so completely
Liz Vice
I listened to this song the other day and believe it or not it reminded me of our project of cleaning out storage containers. 20+ year old storage containers that have been sitting on the property. Some had rusted through exposing the contents to the environment. Wooden doors, window frames and desks all but forgotten and destroyed, left to rot. The doors to the storage container locked shut. The contents were to believed to be safe behind them.
It’s got me thinking about our human tendencies to do similar things. I think it can be applied to many situations. (insert yours here) In life we take circumstances and lock them away in storage. Our careers. Family. Relationships. Wealth. We place importance on things of this world that we want to store away. But all we do is keep it all in the dark. In the dark nothing flourishes. It only collects dust, and rots away. It reminds me of the scripture:
“Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.” Matthew 6:19-21
I’m 26 years old and don’t have many material treasurers that can get destroyed or that I can store up. I mean, I’m living out of a backpack right now! But I think treasurers can be not just materialistic. You can treasure your relationships, idolize your significant other or a friendship by what it provides you. You store that up, try to control it, or keep it hidden. You can treasure your external beauty. How do you appear to others and what do they think of you. You place your value in others affirmations while internally you feel alone and unseen. You can treasure your career. Spend hours pouring into your work and being better than everyone else. You focus how well you do there that other things in your life go neglected.
The place where your treasure is, there you will also be. Inside that locked storage container. In the dark. Rotting away. Okay this may be an extreme example but I can actually relate! I have been inside my own storage containers trying to build stuff and things up around me as barriers to protect and keep others out. Instead it trapped me within myself and I lost sight of what actually matters in life! And no, it’s not just to figure out how to live a life with a “YOLO” mentality. I may only life once but I sure don’t want to waste it storing up things for myself that will only be left here on Earth. I want my life marked with relationships and serving others with what I am given. I want to leave an impression on people that brings joy, peace and love. I can only do that as I empty myself of me and fill up with more of God.
I needed God to pull me out of my mess and empty me out. To give everything I was storing up and keeping for myself to him. It was only then did I find life. Did I find true freedom. I think I’ll have to go through constant “spring cleanings” as I will probably continue to attempt to store my own junk, but that’s okay. Life is a constant process moving forward.
On a side note. We literally cleaned these things for over a week to prepare for a yard sale our ministry was having. We wore masks and gloves because of how much mold and mildew was on everything. We had to monitor how long people were in the container because of the toxic air. We found one dead squirrel and a live baby squirrel. When I blew my nose it would be BLACK. Even with the mask. I’ll spare you pictures. But here is one of me and the kindest person you will ever meet. #twinning
