Daphne E. Tarango

I dreaded doing it, but I knew I needed to. Clothes were starting to pile up everywhere, and I couldn’t find what I needed when I wanted to wear it. Can you relate?

So I opened the closet door and started pulling things out one by one.

• Pants.
• Shirts.
• Jeans.
• Shorts.
• Dresses.

Thoughts of the past flooded my mind as I reached in for each item.

Ooh, I remember when I wore that one.

 

or

Oh, that one looked really good on me.

 

and

Ugh, I wish I could get into that one again.

 

Never mind that I hadn’t worn any of these things in–well, I can’t remember the last time I wore them. They were out of style. And they had that musty closet smell too.

So why did I hold on to them for so long? Why did I leave them in the closet without even giving them a second thought? Why did I let them pile up?

It’s hard letting go of the past, isn’t it? No matter how great today is, I tend to say–or think, “I wish I could do XYZ–or be XYZ–again.”

Truth is: Sometimes we hold on to things that are meant to stay in the past. They were in our lives only for a season–a beginning, middle, and end.

There is a time for everything, and everything on earth has its special season. There is a time to be born and a time to die. There is a time to plant and a time to pull up plants. There is a time to kill and a time to heal. There is a time to destroy and a time to build. There is a time to cry and a time to laugh. There is a time to be sad and a time to dance. There is a time to throw away stones and a time to gather them. There is a time to hug and a time not to hug. There is a time to look for something and a time to stop looking for it. There is a time to keep things and a time to throw things away. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-6)

Time is up for these old clothes. Time can also be up for a lot of other things in our lives:

• Relationships.
• Careers.
• Ministries.
• Hurts.

I’m cleaning out my closet. Are you?