A Clean Heart from Clean Cabinets

I want new white cabinets with jazzy hardware and a touch of glaze. Of course, then, I'd need to replace my laminate with granite, or maybe quartz, countertops. My eyes glanced at my hardwood floors in the kitchen and I wondered how hard it would be to match the boards so I could pull up my carpet in the living room and streamline the first floor with matching wood. After measuring, adding, comparing, factoring in installation and trim, I looked at a price tag of $5,000+ for new cabinets. Really?! 

That amount could buy a car for my teen driver, go toward braces, a new bass, a mission trip, or a family vacation. My oak cabinets would have to stay tan for a little while longer. After a short pout, some sighing, and a cup of coffee to help me reenter reality, I asked God to help me not want to have material things so much. Like, I REALLY want white cabinets. Ugh, I don't mean to be so greedy, but I  just can't help it like to make things look nice. 

A verse from Psalms popped into my head, something like, "create in me a clean heart, O Lord, wipe away all my transgressions."After a quick Google search, I meditated on these verses from Psalm 51: 7-12

That's when I started to clean my house. You guys, this was like turboclean with a tiny bit of crazy thrown in. My husband was away for the week and my kids just started school. I had the time and the cleaning wipes. Game on. The Holy Spirit was teaching me a lesson through my longing for white cabinets and I decided I had better listen.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

As I scrubbed I chuckled, "Purge these cabinets with rosemary essential oil and Lysol disinfecting wipes and they shall be clean; wash them, and they shall be whiter than snow." 

Oh, the dust on the top! Oh, the grime and grease on the doors! Oh, the grit and filth in the drawers! My cabinets didn't magically turn white, but they looked clean, fresh, and restored; they had that cared for look to them. 

Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

I found the Gospel Glory channel and blared CeCe and Kirk Franklin for hours; I thanked God for my sore back as I rejoiced in cleaning the wood. 

Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

I spent a lot of time confessing my sins to the Lord and asking for forgiveness. As the wood turned from a grey, sticky mess to smooth oak grain, I imagined God wiping away my stubbornness, pride, mean words, bitterness, and greed, among other things. 

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

I just want my cabinets to be beautiful, but first, they would need to be clean. All sweaty and smelly and full of repentance, I asked God to create a clean heart in me. I knew that by sustaining a mindset of discontentment, selfishness, entitlement, and greed, I would not be able to rest in God's presence, nor discern his Holy Spirit.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

My cabinets were cleaned, sanitized and rubbed with herbed essential oil, and now they are restored to a a fresh and glowing finish. Getting rid of all that nasty stuff is hard work! But, every now and then, we need to "clean house" so that we can experience the joy of our salvation. My cabinets are fine just like they are. They just needed to be deep cleaned. You are fine just the way YOU are, although you may need some deep cleaning as well. Go to the Lord in prayer and then by reading the Bible and ask Him to create a pure heart in you. I'd love to hear how God is restoring you to the joy of your salvation.