Emotional Junk Drawer: Psalm 119

As I began looking into how we were going to clean out our emotional junk drawers, I was both cautious and prayerful. I am finishing up my psychology degree focusing on trauma, but I am a Christ-follower also. That means that everything I do meshes what I know about the brain, the personality, and the spirit altogether. I didn't want to just give a quick self-help now get on your way answer, I wanted you to clean out your drawer and fill it up with the joy and wisdom that can only be found in Christ Jesus. There simply is no other way. Trust me, I was not always a Christian. I spent years looking at all those other empty ways to fill the soul and all I found was a deeper darkness that nearly killed me. So, when I point you to Christ at each and every turn, you can trust me that I know what I'm talking about.
When I find that I need someone who KNOWS the deepest darkness and the highest high, it's David. He rode that roller coaster many, many times. I came to Psalms 119, the longest psalm and I found that here, he covers exactly what we all go through several times. Here we all find the reasons we absolutely need to clean out our drawers and the rewards for doing so. We find a prayer that covers our heart's plea. First, we find the most important reason, it prevents a right relationship with God. When we are so consumed with our junk, we cannot be consumed with God and His will. We cannot love two masters remember? It is necessary to grieve in life, but when that grief goes unresolved and turns into junk that we stuff away, it clutters up our heart and our brains and it consumes us. The very thing we don't want to happen, happens. Our unconscious brain begins making our decisions and judgements for us and prevents us from being in right standing before God. We MUST deal with it just like we MUST confess our sin. Our unresolved grief turns into sin because it becomes something Satan uses against us towards others. It is unsafe to carry around like a loaded weapon, for one. For two, it is something we are holding back from God. Do you see? There is nothing good about keeping this to ourselves. That is not even going into what harm it does to us on a physiological level. You know it's there, God knows it's there, it's time to get it out and deal with it before God. That's the first thing we'll deal with.

Secondly, (like I said before) it clutters your heart and mind. You cannot have a right relationship with God or others if you are consumed with pain and hurt and anger and fear etc. All of these negative feelings may not be anything you asked for, they are not your fault. Most trauma happens before a child is even old enough to process the memories of what is even happening. It simply becomes stored negative energy. That is nothing you can help. Too many women have been sexually assaulted and are afraid to say anything for fear of the stigma. That isn't your fault either. So, what then? We keep it to ourselves and hope that time will somehow erode the pain inflicted? It doesn't work that way. The pain never works that way. The Grand Canyon has not eroded away, has it? It has deep canyons but it's still there just like your pain. It has to be dealt with and dealt with properly. Let me pre-empt this by saying this, if the trauma is deep you need holistic, professional help. My blog is not the place for that. You need emotional, physical, and spiritual healing. Please stop here and seek that out. When you have a broken arm you go to the doctor, this is no different. Now, besides getting more in depth help realize that keeping that cluttered drawer leaves no room for joy in your life. There's no room for joy in the everyday affairs of life. No room to just enjoy the gifts that God provides each day and no room to find joy in following Christ. Soon you will find yourself trudging through each day not sure if you'll make through to the next.

That brings us to the last part. That junk drawer isn't like the one you have at home, the emotional one you take with you everywhere you go. That means that it slows you down. You can't possibly chase after Christ (much less your kids) when you are dragging behind you the trauma from decades past. The longer you carry it, the heavier it gets. These past hurts influence our new decisions causing new hurts making the drawer heavier and heavier and heavier. Eventually, we just get tired of moving and fighting it. We just feel like we can't go on anymore and we don't even know why. We're exhausted from life and we don't even realize it's because we are dragging around so much junk that we might as well be carrying around a herd of elephants! Christ told us to leave all of that at the cross long ago, but we never learned how to so we brought it with us and tried to follow along. Now we need to make a decision as to who or what we are cutting loose because we can't do both anymore. It's time to decide, the junk drawer or Christ. Which will master our life from this point forward?
Our main chapter for this devo study will be Psalm 119 if you want to read up ahead! I hope you'll come along. Bring all your junk and get ready to say "Hasta la vista, baby", Terminator style!

Your word, Lord, is eternal;
    it stands firm in the heavens.
Your faithfulness continues through all generations;
    you established the earth, and it endures. Your laws endure to this day,
    for all things serve you.
 If your law had not been my delight,
    I would have perished in my affliction. 
I will never forget your precepts,
    for by them you have preserved my life.
 Save me, for I am yours;
    I have sought out your precepts. Psalm 119:89-94