“A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;” Ecclesiastes 3:6
I’m still unpacking from the trip I took across the USA. I drove from San Francisco to Miami and back, ministering to others who have the same brain injury I had. My closet is utter chaos, as I add the clothes I took on my trip back on the rod. I felt it was time for some spring cleaning, so I began the task of sorting through clothes and throwing away the things I don’t wear anymore.
Two coats that I have worn since I was in my late 30’s glared at me from their hangers. Both are missing buttons and the lining in one is badly torn at the armpits. I took them from the hangers and cradled each coat in my arms. A flood of memories swept over me. I had bought the coats almost 20 years ago at a hard time in my life. I had been struggling to find my way after divorcing the father of my four children. To combat my worries and insecurities, I became an extra on the set of Nash Bridges, and I did racey stand up comedy in seedy little bars in San Francisco. When my ex had the children, I went to fancy nightclubs and rubbed shoulders with movie producers and famous singers. I thought I was “all that!”
The memories made me wince. How far I have come from! Those days of being caught up in my ego, things of the world and pleasures of the flesh are long gone. I folded the coats gently and put them in the bag marked “Goodwill.” It was time to cast away. I was a million miles away from being a young a divorcee, grappling with my ego and my insecurities. I made a space in the closet for new clothes to hang one day, soon.
That’s how it is done,” God whispered to me. You let go of the past and of who you were. You become new living in Christ. (“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17) You rid yourself of the old and you make space for the new to come into your life. Yes, it was time to say goodby to the old coats. It was time to say hello to the next chapter in my life.
F.R.O.G. Practice: What are you holding onto that you can caste away so that you can be ready for the new, and more fully reliant on God?
