“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” – Colossians 3:23

I threw a lot away yesterday. Over the last two years, I have been trying to become a minimalist for mostly the sake of my faith.

If you know me, you know I love shopping and I love aesthetically pleasing things. So this was kind of hard to reduce all I had. But over time, I honestly thought of myself to be succeeding pretty well in this area of my life, and I even felt like I had become less materialistic because of this discipline.

But a couple of days ago, I was thinking about my future and accidentally went down a spiral of thoughts, regrets, and missing my past. I thought about how much more responsibilities I kept up with. I thought about the way I cared for my body better with how often I worked out. I thought about the way I maintained a sabbath. And I thought about the work I put into pursuing my dreams no matter what judgement I received from it.

It was hard, but I did it. And for years, I have taken pride in that season of my life. And since then, every failed attempt to maintain good stewardship of my time and work has been rationalized because of how “good I was in the past“. But what I noticed this week was the way the rationalizing only eased my mind for a moment.

I said it was okay to not be as disciplined as I used to be, but within the same hour, I realized the shame and hopelessness that mindset would lead me to.

I thought, “It was good while it was, but it is what it is now.”

That was, until the light bulb lit up two nights ago.

I looked in my car, and on the rear view mirror I saw the tassel from my high school graduation next to the school parking pass from my senior year (2020-’21). And hanging next to those was an air freshener from the church I attended in college, right beside my college graduation tassel.

It was a hanging mobile of my beloved memories. Now, that may sound cute, but all it stirred up inside of me was aching pain.

An aching for the freedom I had in high school, the endless possibilities of majors I could’ve studied in college, and the joy in serving my sweet group of youth students at my old church (even they are now on their way to college).

This was all wrapped around my rear view mirror with the air freshener that recited Colossians 3:23. And that’s when I noticed the point.

God has blessed me with so many new things. Some more exciting than others. But nonetheless, new. I graduated high school over 3 years ago and college 6 months ago. But after each milestone, I placed them in front of me again by hanging their mementos on my car mirror. A place I spend far too many hours in a week.

So two nights ago, I went on Amazon. I scrolled for a while and ended up buying a hanging yarn plant.

When it arrived (praise Jesus for Amazon prime) yesterday, I took off everything on my rear view mirror and replaced it with the yarn plant. The tassels, I kept, but the other things, I tossed.

And when I got in my car this morning to go to work, for the first time in a very long time, I actually thought about the verse that used to be hanging on my air freshener.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”

I had practiced minimalism for so long. But I completely overlooked the deeper way it could be implemented into my life. For three years, I had been collecting good things that reminded me of God’s blessings, but turned it into something that stirred up anything but joy.

I wanted the past. And what that mentality does, is stiff arm God from allowing Him to show you what He has planned next.

The air freshener was given to me after a sermon about stewarding your work well, especially on the days you don’t want to. It had in big, bold letters on the back, “MONDAYS 🙂 You were made for this”. Because let’s be real, Mondays are dreadful and the joy from Sunday is tempted to be forgotten the moment your “get up for work” alarm goes off before the sun even rises.

It took me getting rid of the memento to appreciate it and actually consider how I can move on with my future while appreciating what I learned in my past.

As I write this, I find it even more interesting that those items were wrapped around my rear view mirror. A tool to help me see what is behind me so that if I need to switch lanes while moving forward, I can with peace in knowing I am clear of any obstacles. But that is just it, any time I look at what’s behind should be for the purpose of moving me more forward. Even if I have to back up a little, it is so that I can get around something and press on my journey even farther.

Those mementos are great to appreciate the past. But the purpose of minimalism in terms of growing your faith, is to get rid of the unnecessary things and keep my attention on what is needed and what brings me closer to God. Though I was maturing from my materialism problem, I had never noticed the way I held onto the past so tightly.

A simple task like relocating or getting rid of things from my past has allowed me to have a greater visual of the future and more freedom for God to use me for whatever it is He pleases.

May we not forget the purpose we have because we are so attached to the things we have known. For God’s plans and desires are beyond our imagination. We only limit ourselves to the life God made us for when we refuse to walk into the “Mondays”.

Not every season of life will be exciting. Some will feel tiresome, pointless, or painful, but God has a purpose for every minute you breathe, and you have a responsibility as one who claims to be His follower. You have the duty of good stewardship. Of giving your best, for what you have in front of you was given by the Lord, even if you cannot see how.

My dear friend, taking a step on the water is going to come with fear when you’ve only ever walked on land (credit to Chris Renzema for his sick song lyrics that say something similar). But how much longer will you live obstructing your own view of the future and what’s ahead because you can’t look past the past? God’s hand is reaching out to walk with you…will you take it even if you cannot see the next step?

Thoughts to Consider:

What are some material, or immaterial things from your past that you are enabling to block your view of the future? Bring them to the Lord in prayer.

Have you truly allowed God to use you in ANY way He desires, even if it is new or uncomfortable?

How can you work on developing the mentality and lifestyle described in Colossians 3:23?

Consider the growth you could experience and the deeper connection you could have with God if you took His hand in walking into the “Mondays” of your life, no matter what they entail.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” – Colossians 3:23