I like to visit the book of Haggai often. It helps hone my perspective. Haggai 1:7 says, “…Consider your ways!” Verse 9 says, “…I blew it away. Why?…Because My house that is in ruins…” Verse 14 says that the Spirit of the Lord stirred up the people. May these posts ‘stir you up’ to consider your emotional clutter.

I like to ask myself the same question as Haggai 2:19. It says, “Is the seed still in the barn?…” Am I doing all that the Lord has preordained for me to do? Am I holding back because of something buried in my unconscious?

When we use the words like ‘big clods’ in reference to emotional pain, then the seed is blocked from maturing. Though it was sown, it cannot bear fruit. Mark 4:26-29 is the parable of growing seed. The farmer plants the seed. It says, “…the seed should sprout and grow…first the blade, then the head, then the full grain in the head.”

When we bury our emotional pain, it is sin. James 4:17 says, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” Romans 14:23 says, “…whatever is not of faith is sin.”

Faith is trust in One who is trustworthy. Buried emotional pain is sin when we don’t trust the Lord, we stay bound though He offers freedom, and we use it to define our lives.

I would encourage you to take your emotional pain before the Lord. Acknowledge that you have sinned against Him, embrace His way through release, and walk daily in your freedom by continually renewing your mind.