My last journal entry was about my recent journey of unpacking all the boxes of my past, or better said, the boxes that Jesus has the flashlight on. As I was driving my daughter to her extracurricular in the evening I began to think about how every time I have moved, I have had friends offer to help. The moving process is usually so daunting that I usually have items that are unpacked and stored in my house that I don’t do myself. I can go months before I realize where something is because someone else unpacked it and put it away for me. While delegating such a responsibility while going through a physical move is smart, when unpacking your past it is not wise.

Think about the ramifications of allowing someone else to unpack your stuff. They won’t exactly be able to identify the trash vs the treasure in your life. Only you can do that – with the help of the Holy Spirit, of course. They may wind up just moving the trash out of the box to another place. Months later you come to find out that there’s trash in your life that you thought you were rid of, but it’s still there. You also may go look for some treasure you know you had and won’t be able to find it because someone (that’s not you) threw it out thinking it’s trash. We cannot delegate the clean up of our pasts to others. It is our responsibility. We must value the Holy Spirit in our lives enough to fulfill our responsibility and not delegate the things that only we can do. It’s irresponsible to entrust others with our spiritual health. The only way for us to ensure spiritual health in our own lives is by us partnering with the Holy Spirit to go through the process.

It’s hard. It’s work. Sometimes it gets dusty. Put on a mask and make it happen. Friends, especially leaders, will offer to help. There is help they can give, but no one can replace you in the responsibility of going through each item in those boxes. The help you should receive is to have someone walking through it with you and being there for you. When an item that’s trash comes up and it brings pain, then the help you need is to have someone embrace and pray for you as you leave it at the feet of Jesus. Be wise in the help you receive. Don’t skip steps, get lazy, or try for a quick fix.

Yesterday I read I quote that was so perfect for what was on my heart yesterday. “The middle is messy, but it’s also where the magic happens.” Ain’t that the truth!