My room is entirely, completely, positively organized and cleaned. I have not done this thorough a cleaning since August or so. This has been a long time coming, but there is not a single pile of stuff that doesn't belong. How this can free up one's mind to focus on other things!
Do you ever notice that sometimes you don't want to do something in particular (like homework, or some other responsibility in business or whatever) and use your room as an excuse to not do that particular thing? "I know I need to complete that paper, but I really need to get my room cleaned." Maybe it's just me; my tendency is to look for anything, anything I can do that's other than my current responsibility. Quite a stupid mentality, and one I am working to change.
I'm attempting to set a solid system for myself, one contrived by me whereby I can complete everything I need to get done, and then be able to relax with a totally clear mind, not worrying about, "Oh, I need to do this," or "Oh, I forgot about that...." I spent several years of my life telling children that it was a better idea to get their homework done as early as possible so that they could enjoy playtime. I ignored that advice myself for so long. What hypocrisy.
I'm thinking of studying Proverbs again, one per day, just for some solid practical advice. This is in addition to my own personal devotions. I think it can be said that common practical sense is the icing on the cake of concrete Christian doctrine. I love to study the Word, but don't often make the transfer from study to living.
There's a commercial for OG&E that's been playing during all of OU's basketball games that says:
Ignore the past, and you will fail; ignore the future, and you've already failed.
We can't change the past. And we can't really change the future. All we can change is the present. From one standpoint, we can change the future because the changes we make in the present impact the future. However, since we know little of the future (except for prophecy and the coming judgments), and truly nothing of our own personal future on the earth, I think it's safe to say we can only change the present. Like the Greek perfect tense, it's our completed actions every day that has effects on the future.
But what I am most grateful for in considering this point is that God is in control of it all. He uses the trillions of every day "incidentals" to work out His perfect will. Think about all, heck, just some of the variables it took for your parents to be in the exact place they needed to be in order to meet for the first time. We tend to think of God's acts of providence with too little a mind.
So, point of application: Don't give in to the lie that when you can't find your car keys, you have a reason to be angry. God's in control, so do not be anxious. I had to get my thoughts out. Didn't know I'd ramble for this long. As my good friends Jonathan and Jenni reportedly love saying: "That was random."
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