Happy weekend! I’m so glad you joined me here for today’s chat about inner beauty. One of the greatest joys of writing this blog is the conversation I look forward to each weekend as you gals chime in through the comment section on these inner beauty posts. Does my heart some good! Today let’s talk about the beauty of order.
I imagine we could all agree pretty quickly that our God is not a God of chaos. He is a God of order. And even when things seem to be amiss, He still has everything under control.
That’s not to say that our God is predictable or so patterned that we can guess His next step. For while He is a God of order, He is also creative beyond imagination, exquisitely fluid and not to be tamed. So let’s agree up front that order is not the same thing as monotony. Order is, in fact, beautiful.
How can the beauty of order manifest in a woman?
When I sit in the presence of a woman who has done the work and put in the time and exhibited the patience required to bring about a little order in her life, I feel calmed. I’m able to breathe a little more deeply, sit back in my chair a little further and ease into transparent conversation. This woman feels safe to me. I can open my heart a little and carefully place in her care a few of my thoughts or dreams or fears or regrets…because she will not carelessly scatter or lose them.
So keeping a little order in our lives is not just about appearances. It’s not just a matter of getting our ducks in a row so everyone will think we’ve got it all together.
When we take the time to cultivate order in our lives, we actually change the atmosphere around us.
How can you and I cultivate order in our lives?
I’m not an expert in this area. In fact, this is one of those attributes of beauty that I find extremely challenging. I’m typing this post in a cluttered office. I have laundry in baskets that I meant to have washed and folded and put away by now. Receipts litter my desk and my refrigerator needs to be cleaned out. My calendar is full of mark outs and unfinished goals.
I could use a little help here.
Today I’m heading down to the basement. It’s a little scary down there y’all. We have partially unpacked boxes piled on top of boxes from one end of our full basement to the next. I don’t even know where to begin!
But I’m going to begin. Somehow I feel like if I can get a little order established in the basement – down at the foundation – then I can begin to feel a little more organized above the surface, too.
Come to think of it, maybe that’s the ticket. Instead of sweeping the mess under the proverbial carpet and appearing to have everything in order, maybe we need to work on what is unseen first. Maybe there are deeper issues lurking inside our crammed full pantries, lying quietly in the recesses of our cluttered closet and written between the lines of our chaotic calendars.
Keep your heart with all vigilance,
Proverbs 4:23
for from it flow the springs of life.”
This weekend might be a good time to bring about a little order in one of these areas of our lives:
- our finances
- the calendar
- our homes
- the office
- the car
But before we try to organize the surface area of our lives, let’s make sure we tend to our hearts. For from our hearts flow the stuff of life.
I’m going to sit before the Lord this morning and ask Him to shine His revealing light into the chambers of my heart. I’m going to bare all and give Him permission to purge whatever needs to go. Then I’m going to let Him line up my priorities, for I’ve surely gotten them out of order somewhere during the ups and downs of the week.
I don’t mind doing this because I trust Him. He is a God of order. And so I know that He can handle may mayhem. He who has begun a good work in me will bring it to completion. (Philippians 1:6)
And after I get up from my time with the God of order I’m going to head down to my basement to deal with the stuff strewn there.
Do you have thoughts you’d like to share about today’s topic? I’d love to hear from you today! I tend to take as much time off from work as I can during the weekends, so I may not reply to your comments unless you ask me a direct question. But I’d love for you to carry on this conversation in the comment section below. And you can know for certain that I read and value each and every comment. Please remember that I try to keep this space free from controversy, so let’s stay away from the topic of politics or other divisive issues.
Wow Kay!!! What a great topic to write about. If we are all honest to ourselves, each one of us has something deep down that we need to get in order. I have my own personal list that I have tried working on for the last few years. I have accomplished a couple of them and struggle with a couple more. I am a work in progress. I hope you have a productive Saturday and a great Sunday. ~Lisa~
Great post! Started a Bible study about decreasing chaos and this was perfect!
Kay, I literally just used your prayer as my morning prayer.
I am an extremely organized person. I need order and, truth be told, I probably demand it too much of others (in the past, employees and my kids, and these days, my husband!). So it’s not the “stuff” that I need God’s guidance around, so much as the ORDER of my PRIORITIES.
Praying and reflecting on this and my blessings as wishing you s wonderful weekend……
Not only am I working on purging the stuff in our basement, but also striving to keep the issues of life continually at His feet, desiring to keep my heart clean too!! Honestly, my husband and I have decided not to leave behind a trove of stuff for our children to throw away when we are gone. Hoping to leave behind only memories that last ?
This is an area where I need some work also. My home is orderly and calming, but my inner self can use some work. I have too many balls up in the air, and this week was particularly difficult for me in becoming overwhelmed with the clutter of life. There are some things I’m responsible for that I just can’t say “no” to, and often these are things that I can’t find a place for in my day, thus creating chaos. So for me too, this area really needs some work. I’m going to have to remember that my help comes from the Lord and quit trying to manage it without consulting Him first!
I am struggling as well with the cluttered basement, office, studio, closets…everything! I’m not sure why it’s so hard for me to let go of stuff…..we are planning a move this fall and I know it’s time to look at things in a new light. Every move is a chance to clean out and start new. I wish at times that I could be of the “minimalist” mind set, but truth be known, I find comfort surrounded by things that bring me memories…I love the hunt in second hand stores, and thrift shops, but I am holding back and trying to enjoy what I already have…it’s a struggle! I am going to pray for guidance during this process! Have a blessed weekend!
Fabulous post! I too need help from God to keep my inner being in order. I am a very organized person and believer that everything has its place. Back in 2016 we hired a company to hold an estate sale, as we planned to move from a 3,200 sq ft home to an 1,800 sq ft home. My mom had died in May, so I had to go through her things, as well. Moving into a much smaller home forced me to ‘let go’ of the majority of her possessions, while I reminded myself that mom will always be in my heart. It was hard watching how the estate sale company emptied out the attics, we had two, closets, etc., but they had a limited amount of time to get it all done. The blessing was, we could not be there on the days of the sale. They knew what they were doing and had everything under control. It literally just dawned on me that that is how God is. He doesn’t need my help! He just needs for me to be open to what He needs to do in my life and to ‘let go!’ I hope that you’ve had a productive day!
I am working hard on this program you introduced us to for getting to a leaner me. I have struggled to understand but I bought the book online and read it and that helped. This is my top priority right now. Thank you for sharing that info.
Great. I know it can be a struggle in the beginning but it really does become more intuitive as you go. I think the thing that helped me most was that pyramid of priorities. I’m assuming that’s in the book. Carry on! You can do this.
I will update soon!
when things are in order it just feels good to step back and see a well organized and orderly space. I love this feeling but there are always little bits and pieces that I dont know what to do with hiding in a bag or box just behind the organized things. those are the things that have stump they are like my dirty little secrets.
This has always been something I struggle with. However, I’m trying to start 2020 off right by crossing some important things off my list: renewing my passport (living overseas, this is a priority!), renewing my Austrian residence permit (getting papers together now for the renewal process later this spring), finding a tax advisor (as a US expat for the last 20 years, this has finally become something of high importance to me, even though it’s costly) and last but not least, making a list of possible destinations for celebrating my 50th at the end of this year. Even just working on some of these things makes me feel like I’m getting things organized. Thanks for your inspirational post today!