Wendall Parr, an instructor at Charis Bible college, shared an illustration that hit home for me, and I wanted to share (this is his illustration, but as I meditated on it, it really made sense, so this paraphrased, his and mine all mixed up).

Imagine you live in a big house with a butler.

Lots of rooms, and space.

You have a guest arrive to your home, and the butler answers the door, and invites him in.

The butler offers him a seat.

He goes and takes a seat in your foyer, to wait for you to welcome him in. 

Now, you are the master of your house.

You control what rooms are accessed, what areas are going to be viewed.

You, as the master of the house, must take the time to come and welcome your guest into your home. 

Your guest is a true gentleman.

He already knows your house very well.

He knows the ins and outs and what’s tucked away.

But He’s never going to go snooping through drawers and closets in your home, seeing what you have in your pantry, in your laundry cabinet, secretly.

He is going to wait to be asked and invited by you into any room, because he’s so glad to be there, so glad to be in your foyer.

So he sits, and He’s present always, waiting on your welcome. 

In this parallel, the Holy Spirit is the guest.

You are the master, and the butler is representative of your spirit, at salvation, when you invited him into your home, into your life, into your heart. 

Your heart has many nooks, there’s a lot of drawers, closets, rooms.

A lot of things we have filled it with over our lives; things like our experiences, our life is in here, what makes us who we are, who we truly are is made known by our home, by our heart. 

How often though, do we receive the Holy Spirit into our ‘home,’ into our hearts at salvation, and leave Him sitting in the foyer?

We continue to go about our lives, coming in and out, doing our thing, living our struggle, trying to figure it all out on our own, trying to get all fixed up and looking ready to be presentable for Him, when we have this perfect guest right with us all along, eagerly waiting to help us in ALL things? 

I imagine He’s trying to stop me every time I walk by the foyer, politely trying to get my attention, having a solution for whatever that thing is I’m trying to scurry to accomplish, wanting to help me, but I’m too busy to notice Him, brushing by Him frantically, ‘I’ll be right there, almost ready!” trying to find what I’m looking for, frantically trying to solve my own problem, so I’m ‘ready’, ‘approved enough’, ‘fixed up enough’ to be ready for His entrance… to be in His presence. 

This was me.

How confused I was.

I have had the Holy Spirit in my heart since salvation at a young age, but I had Him staying in the foyer, while I worked out my life and my whole heart on my own, trying to get ready to be good enough for Him, trying so hard, not knowing He wanted me to let Him help me in every single thing I was doing.

Every single thing.

I thank God that the Holy Spirit has now taken full inventory of my heart.

He has helped me clean out the closets of my heart, cleaned out my corners and crevices, cleaning and making new, throwing out what is no longer needed, what was useless from the start.

He is helping me to get dressed in the new man that Jesus came for me to have, throwing out the old things that don’t make me who I am. 

We are always going to be looking for things that need to go.

Just like our homes, subtleties can sneak in a make a mess in a hurry.

It’s okay when that happens.

Just get to cleaning, and thank God for being there to go to the trash dump with you.

Trash it, and move on. 

God is so awesome.

He’s here to help us, He gives us energy and stamina, creative ideas, a renewed and fresh outlook.

Each day is new.

Each morning His mercy abounds.

Some days we clean, some days we rest.

The key is that He’s in charge now, and I’m in my yoga pants, with my hair a mess, no makeup, relaxed and at rest, in perfect peace knowing He’s got me.

Now and forever.