Open the Drawer

Happy Monday to our CFC family;

Most of us have one in our home, that one drawer, or maybe more, where we put things just to get them out of the way for the moment. It is the place where items go that are too useful to throw away, yet not important enough to give attention to at that moment.

Last evening, as we were getting supper ready, my daughter opened that “special drawer.” She looked at me and, half laughing, asked, “What exactly is this?”

“What do you mean?” I replied.

“This drawer… what is it?”

Without hesitation, I said, “That’s our junk drawer! Every home has one, and if someone says they don’t, they’re probably not telling the truth.” Then I turned to my son’s girlfriend, who was also in the kitchen with us, and asked, “Does your family have one?”

Without missing a beat, she smiled and said, “Oh yeah!”

You know the kind of drawer I am talking about. It’s the one that is filled with loose batteries, some dead and some maybe still good, random keys that no one remembers what they belong to, rubber bands, paper clips, old receipts, spare change, pens that may or may not work, a screwdriver or two, and that one mysterious item you are sure must be important, but you have no idea why.

It is the place that is the “solution” for now, a temporary holding place for important items, but not important enough to deal with right now. We tell ourselves we will sort through it later, but later rarely comes. Instead, the drawer slowly fills up until it becomes cluttered, crowded, and overwhelming.

If we are honest, many of us have a junk drawer in our lives as well.

Not a physical one, but a spiritual and emotional one. It is where we place the things we do not want to deal with right now. A strained relationship. Unfinished plans. God given goals that we once felt strongly about but quietly set aside. Convictions we have ignored. Steps of obedience we have delayed because it just wasn’t the right moment.

We tell ourselves, “I will deal with that someday….just not today.”

But here is the danger. The longer something sits in a junk drawer, the less likely we are to remember why it mattered in the first place. At one time, we knew exactly why we kept it. It had purpose. It had value. But over time, buried beneath everything else, its importance fades.

The same can happen in our hearts. What once felt urgent can become optional. What once stirred conviction can become easy to ignore. In that process, we risk missing a God ordained moment, not because we rejected it outright, but because we postponed it. It got buried in all of the clutter.

Scripture gives us a sobering picture of this.

In the book of Acts chapter 24:25 the apostle Paul stands before the Roman governor Felix. As Paul speaks about righteousness, self control, and the coming judgment, Felix becomes uneasy. Convicted, even fearful, he responds:

“That’s enough for now. You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.”

But as far as we know, that convenient time never came.

Felix did not reject the truth, he delayed it. He placed it in the drawer, intending to deal with it later. But later turned into never.

That should be a warning to all of us! In James 4:17, we are reminded,

“If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin.”

And in 2 Corinthians 6:2 Paul says; “Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”

Not tomorrow. Not when life slows down. Not when it feels more convenient. Now!

Even the psalmist echoes this urgency. In Psalms 95:7-8, we read,

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

Every time we delay what God is prompting us to do, it becomes a little easier to delay it again. Over time, the sense of importance fades, and what once mattered deeply can quietly slip away.

But the amazing thing about our relationship with Jesus is that there is patience and forgiveness!

Opening the “junk drawer” of our hearts is not about shame, it is about freedom. It is about allowing God to bring order where there has been clutter, healing where there has been avoidance, and clarity where there has been confusion.

Maybe it is a conversation you have been putting off.

Maybe it is forgiveness you need to extend.

Maybe it is a step of obedience you have delayed.

Whatever it is, do not leave it in the drawer, because the things that matter most, the things God places on your heart, are meant to be acted on, not stored away.

So instead of saying someday, choose today.

Today to respond.

Today to obey.

Today to step into what God has placed before you.

Because the moment you are in right now may be the very moment God intended, and it is too important to store away!

Question: If “someday” never comes, what important thing might remain the the “junk drawer” of your life?

Have a great week and we’ll see you Sunday!

Pastor Dan