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A basement can be a scary place. Mine is.

My basement is filled with almost forty years’ worth of stuff—boxes, tools, wood, mowers, machinery, broken furniture, and a plethora of whatchamacallits I don’t recognize (all belonging to my husband). It bothers me when I think about it—and how much work it will require to clean—so I don’t.

Outa sight … outa mind.

The basement I should think about is my own emotional one. You know, the place where we stuff things so we don’t have to deal with them. This could be anything from anger to hurt feelings to unresolved issues.

Too often, the scary stuff we find in our basement stems from our past—the one we thought we were free from. Things that keep us bound to people and situations that should have been forgiven and released long ago, yet they continue to hide in those dark corners, waiting to cause us anxiety and pain. So, we stuff them even deeper.

But God doesn’t play the outa-sight-outa-mind game. The Holy Spirit will always shine His light on those hidden places so we can deal with them and truly walk in freedom. He tells us, Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert. Be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out. Don’t you see it?

God wants us to let go of the old and make room for the new. If He is nudging you and turning on that light today, maybe it’s time to clean out the basement.

(photo courtesy of pixabay.com.)

(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)