Have you ever gone shopping for new clothes and came home only to realize that you have no room in your closet or drawers to hold them? The reason is that you never made room for them by clearing out some of the old ones. God is calling us to lengthen our cords so that He can bless us abundantly, but we have to have room in our lives for the blessings. And we do it through on-purpose, or intentional, living and by getting rid of some of the stuff we've been holding onto in our lives. Living on-purpose determines who and what will get your time, energy, and money. A good friend of mine once said, "I'll meet with anybody once, but I'm intentional about specific people who are always on my calendar." Being intentional with your relationships is not about shutting people out, but some relationships are for seasons. One of my dearest friends will always be there for me, and I for her, even if we don't get to see each other all the time. Be intentional with your money by drawing up a monthly budget, that way when opportunities arise for you to spend your money you already know if you will say "yes" or "no" to it.
The harder part about making room in our lives is giving up or getting rid of stuff. Some of our friends just moved and they had to examine what furniture they wanted to take with them to their new home. They needed to make room in their lives for new blessings and so had to part with some old furniture, which turned out to be a blessing in someone else's life. Sometimes giving up some stuff is used to bless others. Sometimes, though, it's stuff we really needed to turn over to God a long time ago, but never did. Those things can be anything from an addiction, to a relationship, to a dream. My mom used to have a poem in her bathroom that talked about how we give our dreams to God and then ask, impatiently, why He hasn't done anything with them and He says, "Because you snatched them back out of My hands." God wants us to willingly hand over the things we've been clutching so tightly so the He can do a work in them. But He won't force us to hand them over; instead, He will wait.
God is calling you to make room in your life so that He can bless you, but it has to be your choice and your action. Ask God to give you the courage to let go of the things you know so that He can take you from glory to glory to glory into things unknown to you.
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