Here is another verse to consider. Psalm 141:7 says, “Our bones are scattered at the mouth of the grave, as when one plows and breaks up the earth.” Plowing reveals the hidden.

Luke 9:61-62 says, “…Lord, I will follow You, but…Jesus said to him, No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Emotional clutter gives us a ‘but’ of reluctance. There is always an excuse of why we don’t do something to break free and move forward. Here are two examples. Buried emotional pain from abuse may have these characteristics: fear of man, lack of trust, self-rejection, pretense, or a victim mentality.

Buried emotional pain from pronouncements spoken over you may have these characteristics. You see yourself as a failure, no initiative, afraid, procrastinate, or you observe but don’t participate.

Whatever is buried will surface unexpectedly. It unknowingly feeds into your thought processes. You only see yourself through the eyes of your past. Let’s look at Elisha as a great example of casting off his past.

The Lord told Elijah to anoint Elisha as a prophet in his place. 1 Kings 19:19-21 is the account. Elisha was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen. Watch what he does. Verse 21 says, “So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant.”

Elisha burned everything that represented his past and followed Elijah into the ministry the Lord had prepared for him. Let us acknowledge our sinful characteristics and forsake them. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know exactly what you have buried. The Lord does. He will reveal it in His timing. Be intentional in the present.