See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? Isaiah 43:18 NIV

We all collect things. Some helpful. Some not so much.
Take a good look in your closets, drawers, garage or toolbox and you’ll find things you use and things you don’t.

Things that were given to you or things you collected along the way. Items that served their purpose in the moment, but now are only either taking up space or simply reminding you of how things used to be.
Today, as I was going through my closets and drawers, I compiled what felt like a mountain of such things.
Items that were mostly fine for a time – or maybe they were never really fine at all – but now definitely serve no purpose in my life.
Some were things I’d used and appreciated and some were items I’d collected here and there and had never really used.
But as I sat there, with this pile in front of me, I realized something. I was actually having a hard time giving them up. 
Not because I wanted them or thought I’d ever use them again.
But simply because I felt guilty getting rid of them!
And I realized something else!
Our thoughts and belief systems can be like those things in our closets. Those things that we collect along the way of life. A thought process here. A belief system there. Thoughts and beliefs that seemed helpful in the moment, but now only serve to hold us back or hold us down.
So today, I want to encourage you! If you need to take a look in your closets or drawers or toolbox or garage – do it! Clean out the old, no-longer-useful items you’ve been collecting!
But so much more important than that – take a look in the closets of your heart and mind!
Ask Holy Spirit to highlight those things that need to go. Those unhealthy belief systems about who God is and who you are!
And when you see one, simply get rid of it! Don’t analyze it one more time. Don’t try to see if you can somehow make it fit or somehow make it work!
Just let it go! No guilt. No shame. Only freedom! Only joy and peace and sweet release!
Because God is doing a thing! He’s said it. He’s declared it! He’s prophesied it!
And now is the time to prepare for it! Now is the time to make room in your heart and in your soul for the amazing new thing God is doing!
So say goodbye to the old and hello to the new!
You’ll be so glad you did!

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV
Forget all that — it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Isaiah 43:18-18 NLT