I invested in a storage unit for my business yesterday.
Silly as it sounds, I felt like such a big girl.
My very own lock and key.
As the manager walked me to my designated space for the first time, I got this weird little feeling in my stomach that I like to call “happy tummy”. Strange, I know, but this 8×10 foot space was going to represent more room in my converted garage for all of my staging inventory.
Who wouldn’t have happy tummy?
But as I lifted the retractable door of my answer to clutter, my cheerful gut swallowed hard.
I don’t know exactly what I was expecting, but 8×10 looked especially small. Maybe it was because it resembled a jail cell with its cement walls and lack of windows.
Or maybe it was because 8×10 is just that. Eight feet by ten feet.
It became obvious that I was going to have to be extremely deliberate in what I chose to put there.
Because, unlike other storage units, this one’s contents need to be extremely accessible. I need to be able to get in there and find what I need and be able to retrieve it quickly and efficiently on a daily basis.
This knowledge sounded a little too much like organized planning to my scattered brain. Happy tummy exited that tiny building.
I had to know what I WAS and WASN’T going to put in there.
It came down to this: I would put into this storage unit what wouldn’t fit on my industrial sized shelves at home.
Things that required special storage.
Framed art and small furniture.
There. I’d done it.
I’d narrowed it down to two things. THIS my brain could maneuver around.
And happy tummy returned.
There was relief in knowing that I’d found a safe place to store valuable things. An easily accessible spot that would allow me to pull items out as needed.
I had the key, and now I knew how to use it.
It wasn’t a far stretch to see how my heart and mind resemble this storage unit. Too small for everything in the world to fit into. A limited space that needs intentional filling. A place where it’s necessary for things to be accessible and retrievable.
Things like Jesus’ words.
His promises.
His promptings.
My heart and mind, like that little storage cell of mine, need to be safe and protected. Valuable contents locked in place, so I know right where to find them when I need them.
If I’m deliberate in what I allow into my heart and mind, if Jesus’ words and promises and promptings fill the space, then there are certain things that just won’t fit.
Things like worry.
Fear.
Anxious thoughts.
These things would only serve to clutter and confuse. They would take up valuable space and hide the things that I need access to.
They can try to make their way in. They can beat on the door of my heart and mind.
But they can’t get in unless I let them in.
Because I have the key. And I know how to use it.
– How is the storage unit of your heart and mind?
– Is it so full of extra “stuff” that you can’t get to what you really need?
– Is it time to downsize its contents, and fill it back up with Jesus’ words, promises and promptings?
– Do you remember that the key is right in your own pocket and that you DO know how to use it?
Psalm 119:105 – Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.
Psalm 119:11 – I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
Matthew 6:19-21 – Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
2 Peter 1:4 – Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature…
