Hello friend,
Do you ever find yourself spiritually hungry?
Do you wake up craving for more of something in your life, but you’re not sure what it is?
I don’t think we are supposed to ignore those cravings.
Just like our bodies remind us of physical hunger, our hearts let us know when our spirits are in need.
Thinking about hunger makes me long for food, and thankfully, I prepared a tasty meal in the crock pot overnight that I will enjoy later today, but I need more than meat and veggies to satisfy my spiritual appetite. So what do we do when we aren’t sure what our souls need?
Of course we know that Jesus Christ is the ultimate solution to the cravings of our souls, but sometimes it's hard to hear his voice or we feel overwhelmed about how to seek him to satisfy our gnawing hunger for more.
I think that hunger is a sign from our spirit, alerting us that it is time to pull away and listen to that still, small voice inside of us. Our busy lives make it easy to ignore that voice, and we go on starving our souls until we reach a crisis of faith. But whether the hunger is just a fleeting thought at the beginning of the day or the ache for more is filling our waking hours, we can be sure that If we continue to feed on the world instead of the word, we will never be satisfied.
So where do we begin to fill our souls with the presence and power of Jesus that we truly long for?
I think we begin by making room for him in our lives. We must start with a detox of our spirit, a decluttering of our lives so we can hear that still, small voice that is starving for our attention.
In honor of Spring, here are four key areas of our lives that we can begin to declutter in order to make room for more of what we want. Empty out what does not satisfy so we can fill our souls up with substance.
1) Declutter your thoughts.
Studies show that we have between 50,000-70,000 thoughts per day. That makes 35-48 thoughts per minute. Before we can even complete one thought, we are bombarded by another one, and most of the thoughts we think are not even our own. Our thoughts come from past circumstances or the opinions and fears of others. If God is speaking, can we hear it when we have so much else going on in our minds? I recommend writing down key thoughts in a journal as a help to begin to decipher the Lord's voice from that of the world. Journaling is a very effective way to "brain dump" all that clutter in our heads. Once we put pen to paper, we can release a lot of what is holding our thoughts captive. It’s amazing how journaling can create self-awareness and free up space for more beneficial thoughts.
2) Declutter your inbox.
Most of us check our email at least a dozen times a day. Have you ever taken inventory of your personal inbox? Most inboxes are full of advertisers trying to push their agenda on you, other people expressing their opinions, and other businesses or companies looking to influence you in some way. Go through and decide which emails you want more of, and which ones serve no real purpose. Then use the power of the unsubscribe button. I personally do this on a regular basis, and now my inbox is full of inspiration and news about the things I care about. A helpful internet tool you can use to do this for you is called unroll.me.
3) Declutter your social media accounts.
Social media serves as a networking tool that has several advantages, but there are also disadvantages Everybody and their dog (and a lot of other pets) has a platform on social media. Not everyone should be on social media (I know you feel me on this). If you need to be on it, be very intentional about who you follow. Follow people and companies who will feed your spirit with more of the things that will help you grow. One question to ask when deciding if you want to follow someone or befriend them is "What is their intention behind these posts?" You'll be surprised how this can help you make a decision on who to follow.
When it comes to social media, guard your heart and set yourself some limits.
When I really need to hear God's voice I make a point of staying off of social media.
This is so important. Other people's opinions and words have an influence on us, so if we clutter our minds with everyone else’s thoughts, it can be hard to have room for the Holy Spirit.
4) Declutter your friends.
This might sound kind of harsh, but not everyone is meant to stay in your life indefinitely.
God places people in our lives for different seasons, and when circumstances change or we grow, sometimes our relationships change too. Don't be afraid to let go of certain friendships, or to choose to love someone from a distance for a while. We want to allow people in our personal space who encourage and push us further on the path to become who we want to be.
Once again, guard your heart. Living for God and listening for His voice is harder when those closest to us are living contrary to our beliefs.
Overall, the most important thing you can do when you notice that your spirit is hungering for more is to silence the noise around you, so that you can hear that still, small voice inside. We must be very intentional about nurturing our spirit, and feasting on things that feed our soul.
So many of us are starving and hungry for things of substance, but we aren’t filling up the crockpot with nutrient-rich food that satisfies. We indulge in diets that fill our bellies, but starve our souls. I am praying that these tips will help you do some spring cleaning in your heart so that you can have room for the good stuff.
It's amazing what happens when we eliminate unnecessary clutter in our life!
Do you have any other spring cleaning tips to add to the list? Please share!
Until next time,
Tiffany