Last week at work was the beginning of cleaning week. I suppose you could call it “winter cleaning”. My boss wanted to go through all the old files and get rid of the ones we didn’t need to keep. As I go through files and papers, I hand them to her to let me know which wouldn’t need to be kept. As she goes through and hands them back to me, the ones we didn’t need, instead of telling me to shred them she says, “Delete.” Now, we laughed because, we’re both so used to working via computer, that the word “delete” was an accident. After the laughter settled, God allowed that thang to hit me harder than I’d realized.
As I walk the papers to the shredder, down the hall, in the other room, God began talking to me. You see, the papers that we got rid of were from past accounts and previous years, so they were unnecessary to keep. It was time to get rid of them. Not that they weren’t once useful and required, but now, they were just clutter; they were taking up space that could be used for the files coming in for the current.
Then I got it! Often, we hold on to things of our past and are incapable of taking hold of things that are in our present or that will be coming in our future; because there isn’t any room left. We have the bad habit of holding on to stuff past it’s expiration date, past it’s “seven year mark” (that’s now long you must keep papers for accounting purposes). We must begin to treat that stuff like I did those files. Or better yet (for all you millennials),
treat it like those space holding apps and pics that you delete in order to make more space on your phone.
As I began throwing stacks of paper in the shredder, I began to “DELETE” things that were being a hindrance to my life and to the lives of my loved ones; each stack had it’s own deletion. I began to “delete” insecurities, depression, loneliness, discouragement, financial lack, hopelessness, clouded vision…… I won’t bore y’all with my list cause I had about 3 full boxes of papers, and plenty of time. LOL! Anyhoo, I truly believe that with my words and the confidence that I have in God, all those things have lost power in my life, and the lives of those that I
love and care for. Matthew 21:21-22 in the New Living Translation of the Bible says, “Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.” So, I have God-fidence that God WILL do all the things that I’ve asked… that He will DELETE all the things that I threw in that shredder.
I know you have some stuff that you want to DELETE from your past, and yes, I understand that the past is what helps to create the present. But you gotta understand that right now, to delete is to get rid of that stuff that’s been taking up space in your life. Dismiss it as a placeholder of your thoughts, energy, and heart. Doesn’t mean that it never happened, but it means that it no longer has dominion over areas of your life. Let God redeem you. “Lord, you have come to my defense; you have redeemed my life.” (Lamentations 3:58, NLT).
Go through those file cabinets and DELETE!
Mmmkay… it’s my bedtime (uhhh… blog time usually extends beyond bedtime. Lol.)
Love y’all (I really do!),
Ms. A.M.White
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