Snow Hoarding: buried in stuff.

I am sitting sipping hot coffee and watching the sun rise over the horizon to shine on the snow that has transformed my yard into something beautiful. How can a thin layer of snow make everything look magical? Even a spider web becomes a thing of wonder. But, then I think of those buried in snow on the east coast and am reminded that too much snow quickly loses its charm.

What was cute and magical becomes dangerous.

While I look at the cloudless blue sky, I know that snow is coming. The forecast says we will have snow starting next week and may last for eight days. While the kids may cheer to have snow days, the adults worry. What happens when snow days become snow weeks? When school is closed and parents can’t get to work the stress rises with each inch that falls from the sky. We are powerless to stop nature.

The last time we had a foot of snow for a week I couldn’t understand why I felt so anxious. Why was I stressed? I had enough food and had no reason to go out. I thought to myself that if there were no snow, I wouldn’t have gone out, but now that I can’t go out, I am anxious.

Trapped.

I am studying spiritual warfare and how easy it is to have habits that become strongholds in my life. Things that rob me of joy, time and energy. I love to thrift store shop and for many years sold things on eBay. I would tell myself that I will sell an item “one day” and that justified my purchase. Then I realized that many of those items ended up in storage stacked up in boxes that became clutter that robbed me of peace of mind.

I wondered why I so often felt anxious and restless until the Lord showed me that the line between enjoyment and entrapment was buried in stuff. Like too much snow, it became an avalanche. The Lord gives us the tools to break strongholds in our life. We often think we have control and can navigate through a habit that in reality controls us. The Word of God is one of those tools. As we read the Bible, God shows us that we can be free through Jesus.

As for my stuff, I am selling in a vendor mall or giving it to people who will be blessed with them. The Lord has shown me that I often clung to those things out of financial fear, thinking I needed them so I could sell them one day. Well, “one day” is now and I am free to let them go. The Lord spoke to my heart years ago and said: “Invest in Me and I will take care of your future.” I can find peace in that promise for He is faithful.

Blessings

Natalie