June 2026 On the Side: Tidying Up
Photo by Roberta Sant'Anna via UnSplash
By Shelly Wyrick
When we bought my car, I was so impressed by a feature where my phone gets charged when I set it on the center console- no plug-in required. It worked great until the center console became cluttered, which was right around the time I first drove it.
I know the charger is down there, but snacks, spare change, and life's tidbits get in the way. My tidbits. Basically, I get in the way. Similarly, lately, the Lord has been revealing, through church and Scripture, just how much I get in the way of Him working in me, and I wonder if you can relate. Specifically, my thought-world gets cluttered with me-things, and while I know He is still there (2 Corinthians 13:5), He could be more effective if I took a moment to declutter.
In a sermon on the Holy Spirit a few weeks ago, our pastor made a comment in his leading remarks that left me distracted and stewing for the rest of the message. He was talking about what we fill ourselves with. He was referring to the clutter that could impede the Holy Spirit, and immediately all three of his suggestions resonated: self-ambition, self-preservation, and self-degradation. Instantly convicted, I knew these me-things were getting in the way of the Holy Spirit. It was time to declutter.
From Self-Ambition to Contentment
Self-ambition gets in the way of contentment. Staring at all I want for me takes my gaze off of all that the Lord has provided and called me to. Last month, Sarah Wright gave us an incredible example of overcoming self-ambition in our May On The Side article about surrendering career, control, and identity to Christ. You might remember that she gave up her career in pharmaceuticals to answer a calling to full-time motherhood. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to go back and read it as a beautiful picture of overcoming self-ambition. Thank you, Sarah!
I recognize my own thoughts seeped in self-ambition every single day. It does me good to both recognize and replace this inner chatter with intentional focus on what God has given me, focusing on what is good and pure and right (Philippians 4:8). Decluttering self-ambition makes room for contentment.
From Self-Preservation to Courage
I tend to think in safety mode, pursuing things that keep me physically, emotionally, and socially secure. You too? While comfortable, it rarely leads to an adventurous walk with the Lord.
Decluttering the overly safe mentality makes room for a life of courage in Christ, of choosing faith over fear. Consider the woman who was hemorrhaging for 12 years in Mark chapter 5. I’m guessing she battled a lot of thought-clutter, choosing faith over fear in order to approach the Lord, who was in a crowd, and touch His cloak. Even after she was healed, scripture tells us she was fearing and trembling. But the result of her courage in Christ was receiving His power. With an ailment that made her unclean and shamed in the world, I wonder how many times she had to remind herself to overcome what people thought she should do as she forced her body to move toward Jesus.
Recognizing thoughts of over-self-preservation and replacing them with the intent to choose faith over fear allows the Holy Spirit to fill us with courage for the day.
From Self-Degradation to Confidence
As a spouse of a medical professional, there are lots of opportunities to fill behind-the-scene needs. Whether you’re married to a medical student, resident, or physician, you’re in a role that provides opportunity to do small things with great love and often little worldly recognition. Sometimes doing small things can make you feel small. I married a man who is over-the-top grateful, so I know those feelings of smallness or self-degradation are not coming from him. This is junk I have placed in my center-consoul, and it is getting directly in the way of the power of Christ on the other side. I am responsible for the self-disrespectful thought clutter that opposes the attitude that I am an heir of the greatest Kingdom the universe will ever know.
Replacing thoughts of self-degradation with Christ-centered confidence embraces the Holy Spirit's power to work within me.
There you have it, my center-consoul summer declutter. My car console is still messy, but when I need the power source, I don’t hesitate to move a few things around to charge my phone. Let’s not hesitate to declutter our hearts! Join me in recognizing self-ambition, self-preservation, and self-degradation. Recognize and replace. Recognizing is easy once you know what you’re looking for, yet I tend to overcomplicate the replacing. It’s actually quite simple - it’s asking for the Father’s help through the Holy Spirit.
Shelly Wyrick is wife to her manly medical man and mom to four kids ages ten to nineteen. She worked as a physical therapist before becoming a stay-at-home mom and freelance artist and writer, creating content to help families grow in Christ. You can connect with her or find resources for your family at her website, merge52.com
