To simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.

– Hans Hofmann

In the last year, a lot has changed for us. It’s like the Lord swept our slates clean of the dirty, the useless, & the heavy because He has new intentions for 2016 (& beyond). Wherever He’s taking us, we must need a light load to get there.

For us, 2015 was a year of dying in a lot of ways… and then {beginning} to come to life again… in a surprising new way. But this process would’ve been impeded in our lives had we clung to what He was trying to take away.

Some things He prompted us to say “No more” to were:

• Toxic people & thoughts — dropping spiritual & emotional “dead weight” & being free of the burden. One of God’s best gifts is when He removes the wrong people and beliefs in our lives because He can’t fill us with His goodness when we cling to the old. So if something doesn’t bring us life, why give it space in our lives?
• Pretending struggles & sin away — instead acknowleding them to God/His people in real conversation & {very} honest prayer so He could clear it away & heal us.
• People pleasing — We can say yes to everyone else, or we can say yes to God… but we can’t have it both ways. “No other gods”, He said. This includes people {even well-meaning ones} who threaten to usurp His role in our lives. We’ve been learning to lovingly, gently, but firmly say ‘no’ to others when we felt God directing our time, focus, & resources elsewhere.
• Excess {just about} everything — simplifying our lives, purging our closet/home, downsizing to an apartment, moving thisclose to my husband’s job & our circle of friends (& then moving in with family), selling a vehicle, & stepping away from the “go-go-go” of life. WHAT A JOY this has been to us! It’s clarified our vision & showed us what really matters, and we plan to continue this throughout 2016.

When we let Him “prune” us of the dead & dying parts of our lives, it’s because He has something better in mind — His best. But we must quit feeding the old things or they will drag us down. We may even miss what He intended for us altogether! As He says in John 15 —

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit…

By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples.

After experiencing this process enough times, I’ve discovered (joyfully) that my freedom (& others!) stands on the other side of my obedience. But, like Jesus said, we must be faithful in order to experience this liberty —

Jesus said to the people who believed in Him, ‘You are truly My disciples if you remain faithful to My teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’

~John 8

Now as spring dawns & Easter nears, we find ourselves waiting for Him to revive, replace, & renew the areas we surrendered to Him — and give them new life, as only He can.

I believe 2016 will be a year of new life for many of us, as we cooperate with Him and make room for His best.

“Come, let us return to the Lord;
for He has torn us, that He may heal us;
He has struck us down, and He will bind us up.
After two days He will revive us;
on the third day He will raise us up,
that we may live before Him.

Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;
His going out is sure as the dawn;
He will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth.”

~Hosea 6