Junk Drawers of our Hearts

Maggie Baber is an Apprentice in our Summit Developing Ministry Leaders program. When she shared this content with me I asked if I could post it. I think you will appreciate it as well. 

We all have that drawer in our kitchen. We refer to ours affectionately as the junk drawer. If the drawer was completely empty today, it would have junk in it by next week. It is filled with random objects we are convinced will serve us in the future.

It is easy and comfortable to hide our random junk in the junk drawer where no one can see. But how uncomfortable would it be for someone outside of your household to open that drawer, take out each object, and analyze them asking “do you really need this?”. ”Well no, I guess I really don’t” or “Yes, one day that will be useful for me” you would answer.

The Novel Coronavirus pandemic has given every one of us a rare opportunity to have some extra time to clean our junk drawers at home. Most of us are sitting right across the room from the junk drawer now! My husband has taken on the project of cleaning every drawer and cabinet during this “home time.” There is no drawer that is safe in our living space!

More important than the junk in our homes, what about the junk in our hearts?

I am a new stay at home mom, with a full-time job. I have had to grow accustomed to the gaps in time demands while working from home. Unlike the constant movement of an office, the environment is still, the opportunities for prayer seem greater, and time is generally more available to reflect on my heart.

In the book of Zephaniah, God’s chosen people were living a half-hearted life of worship. They had created junk drawers in their relationship with God. Their hearts were filled to the brim with gods other than the One True God. Worshipping God in the neutral zone, they had lost passion. God’s people were living complacent lives with no fear of God. It was apparent they thought: ‘The Lord will do nothing, either good or bad’ (Zephaniah 1:12).

God, in His mercy, warns Judah in Zephaniah 2:1-3 to repent. He calls them to clean out the junk drawers of their lives and come back to worship. They needed a new commitment to humility and righteousness lest He turns them over to their preferred way of living.

The entire world is pausing, changing or abbreviating work, travel, and business. God is not surprised. Just as He warned Judah about their sin, how might this new norm be a time for us to test our hearts? What junk drawers in our hearts or lives are we refusing to open and deal with? What comforts are we missing right now? This is a beautiful opportunity God is giving us to test the worship and desires of our hearts while we are tucked away.

Let’s not waste this time but determine to tackle those junk drawers.