A 2008 Personal Program From Clutter to Clarity
Nancy Twigg is the author of From Clutter to Clarity: Simplifying Life from the Inside Out (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing , 2007. ISBN 978-0-7847-2110-0; 190 pages; $12.99. Synopsis provided by Billie Silvey, The Christian Chronicle (Vol. 65, No. 1/January 2008) p. 36.
Clutter is a heap or assemblage of things lying in confusion (Webster’s New Universal Dictionary, 344). Clarity is clearness (ibid, 333). But, in the ten pages from clutter to clarity in the dictionary one encounters clay. The Bible teaches that the Lord’s people in order to be workable and useful must be like clay. Jeremiah said in the long ago, “Behold, like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand…†(Jeremiah 18:6). There will be no transition from clutter to clarity until man becomes like clay in the master’s hand.
Twigg sees several important phases in the move from clutter to clarity:
1. Expand your definition of clutter to include any possession, habit, thought, attitude or activity that you do not need or use anymore; doesn’t fit or work for you like it used to; or, doesn’t add value or meaning to your life like it once did.
2. Then, to accept the Scriptural recommendation to look for contentment in the eternal God rather than in fluctuating life conditions.
3. And, to see ourselves as God sees us.
The clay of God will make the changes necessary to move from clutter to clarity in all categories of reality. May your personal program for 2008 reflect a deep faith in the Lord to see you through both today and tomorrow!
-Robert M. Housby