Away from the inner chaos
Imagine you enter a room in which complete chaos reigns. You think to yourself: The poor soul, that has to clean up this mess! Then you suddenly realize: oh gosh, that's my room! Now suddenly you're the poor soul! But the worst part isn't even the mess. The room is pitch black most of the time. Every now and then a ray of light comes in, just to remind you how bad the chaos is.
Shelves swept empty, books and documents on the floor, unimportant rubbish mixed with precious memories are lying in a corner on the floor. And who would have thought: A pile of dog poop lies peacefully under a chair and spreads its very own aroma. Next to it your favorite photo album.
The task of tidying up a room that is really utter chaos is quite a drag. Doing all this in the dark is almost impossible without the help of someone who can see.
But this is and will remain your room! And it's the only room you have to live in all the time.
It's up to you to create structures that make the room a space that you like to live in and that brings joy to you and the people who visit you.
Let's assume you would manage to tidy up this room and furnish it in such a way that you would feel comfortable in it. But even then: who likes to be in a dark room? Who would like to come and visit?
This room is YOU, so to speak. Or this room is inside of you. It's your inner life. The only room of this kind that you have. You still have your bones, your blood, your skin, etc. All of this is connected to this space, but it is not your inner space - your thoughts, feelings and what we call our heart.
So much in life often confuses us. Important things that happen and are said mix with unimportant things and it's really hard to separate one from the other in the dark. And then things happen that you would rather not experience. Someone just dumps their poop on you. Or you've done something terribly wrong and it creates a dreadfull mess internally. Cleaning up poop is never fun. But in the dark?! There is a great temptation to ignore the poop and just leave it there. But that's hardly a good decision.
Your eye gives light to the body.
If your eye is healthy, then your whole body will be bright as well.
But if it is sick, then your body will be dark.
So make sure that there is no darkness in you instead of light.
When your whole body is filled with light and there is nothing dark in it,
then it will be as bright as when a lamp illuminates you with its light.
Jesus, about 27 AD
If only someone could turn on the light! Because with light the most important thing comes into the room. What a relaxation. The confusing darkness is gone. Finally you can see clearly.
I know the scenario I just described very well. It was a real salvation for me to notice that God wants to bring light to me in a very practical way and give me inner peace and order. If you have never experienced this inner chaos, this article is probably not for you.
In any case, having Jesus with me in my everyday life has become medicine for me.
If I don't drink enough, I get a headache.
If I don't spend enough time with God, the
inner chaos and confusing darkness start to spread out.
Then, if I'm wise, I quickly put on the kettle, sit down with a cuppa, and invite Jesus into my inner room and have tea with him. Then he brings light. And when, you're sitting there with him in your inner room, it can't be any other way than for Jesus to start asking like any good friend would: 'Hey, why is there still that pile of s*** from 20 years ago? I could help you get rid of it. It might take a little while, but we could get started...' And: 'Should I help you sort out the rubbish?',... That is what he will start doing if you invite him. If you don't want that, it's better not to invite him. But, man, is it worth cleaning out this room with him. I would never want to miss that. I mean, who willingly cleans up a mess he didn't make?!
He helps me to focus on what is important in life and not to waste my life with emotional garbage. We pack things that bother me into a box and then I hand it to him. He takes them away. Sometimes I take these things back again, but I'm getting better and better at noticing that and giving them back to him. It's really a matter of practice. And he takes my failing with humor.
You may be wondering why the Bible says Jesus died for us. Well, that's exactly why: to be light in you and me and to clean up our poop. This "poop" in life can be very different: People who have hurt you. People that you have hurt. Maybe some memories of what you or others did still haunt you. Maybe you treat yourself badly or hurt yourself. Bad experiences are also part of this poop. Or addictions you may have. Destructive behavior you just can't stop.
A lot of people try to get the poop out of their lives without him. I have a feeling that this leads to one of two things: you don't get rid of the poop, you just keep getting more. Then the room remains quite a pigsty. Or they can get rid of it, but have to use such strong cleaning agents that burn everything away, leaving an empty, sterile room.
I think Jesus does a better job.
Does your inner light shine?
I have experienced how God has changed my inner space day by day in a very unspectacular way, but somehow also completely supernaturally. When he's there, it feels so good. Just like a warm light after everything being dark.
And it starts very simple. Maybe so simple that you don't even notice a difference at first.
Make an effort to spend time with him. Talk to Jesus and let him have a say too. And if you can't hear him, don't doubt that he's still there. Maybe he's busy cleaning up your inner room. Invite him to be the light in you. He doesn't just talk of the light, but he is the light.
I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will no longer wander in the dark, but will have the light of life.”
Jesus
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