How to be Empty Without Being a Minimalist + a Giveaway

I’m not a minimalist. I say that because ever since I was a little girl, I was a pack rat collector. I collected stamps, pencils, stickers, stationery, and books. I’ve only kept up collecting books and it’s not so much that I collect them, but that I like reading and accumulating books came with the territory. I know, I’m in denial.

But what is a minimalist? How do you become one?

Google doesn’t have a definitive answer. Some say it’s a mentality. Others say it’s about intentionality. Others yet say it’s about living with less than 100 things. It can be about art, music, politics, and fashion.

Oh yes. I’m definitely not a minimalist.

So when God started asking me to let things go and be empty, I thought I had to become something I’m not. I had to become a minimalist. I had to declutter my physical life so I can have a clutter-free spiritual/inner life.

I started purging my closet. I started clearing my vanity table. I started putting books in a donation box (that one’s so very hard to do).

I started, but I haven’t finished. I haven’t dropped things off at Goodwill or my local library or the dump. I have been allowing my schedule to postpone what I know has to be done.

But looking at the bags and boxes marked Donation, I realize that being empty doesn’t mean becoming a minimalist. I can finish what I started – and I will – and I’m sure it will give me a lightness of spirit. It will be a sigh of relief. I might even get a new perspective on God or life or faith. I just know it because God has proven Himself a master of object lessons. He doesn’t let our experiences go by without using them to draw us closer to Him.

[bctt tweet=”God is a master of object lessons. He uses our experiences to draw us closer to Him.”]

I also know that God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7), and if my heart isn’t changed, any change that happens from my emptying of stuff and becoming a minimalist will be temporary.

I know because I’ve had failed diets, exercise routines, and early morning devotions. I am not a dieter. I am not a jogger. I am not a morning person. When I tried to be those things, they never lasted. Worse, I gained more weight and felt bad about myself for be unhealthy or not spiritual enough.

So how can I be empty without becoming a minimalist? How can you do it too?

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” Proverbs 4:23, NIV

The heart is the starting point. I like starting things and I got excited stuffing old clothes in bags and donation boxes, but the energy ran out because I hadn’t examined where my heart was at.

Everything we do flows from our hearts. It makes sense to stop and listen to that old ticker. If God’s asking me to let things go and be empty, then my heart is cluttered. But with what?

If you have this urge to become a minimalist, ask yourself why. If God’s asking you to be empty, ask yourself why. If God tells you to celebrate your smallness (thanks Emily!), ask yourself why.

Figure out what’s going on in your heart and you can figure out the next steps.

If I can give you any sort of step-by-step guide, you might be disappointed to find that this is all I have:

1. Pray
2. Get rid of stuff*
3. Pray

*You don’t really have to get rid of stuff, but DO something. Outward action solidifies inward realization. Getting rid of stuff just happens to be a great reflection of emptying yourself.

[bctt tweet=”Outward action solidifies inward realization.”]

What you do will depend on what God’s doing with your heart. Why is He asking you to be empty? Maybe it’s because your heart is cluttered with social media. Perhaps you can take a technology/cell phone break. Maybe your heart is cluttered with work and stress. What can you do to reflect the emptiness or smallness God is asking from you?

And when all is said and done, we go back to the Father because we always go back to the Father.

I have a Giveaway of “Simply Tuesday” that will end soon. This book came at the right time, echoing what God is asking of me. To be empty. To be small. To let go of the promise of bigger things and come to a place where I can look at my Tuesday life and say, “It is well with my soul.”

You can enter the Giveaway right here:

 

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Linking up with Coffee for Your Heart, Word Filled Wednesday, and Wholehearted Wednesday.