The neutral shelf.

The neutral shelf. Do you have one of those? I do. They really are quite handy. Basically anything that is too much I just put on it. And then don't feel, think, bother about that thing anymore. Yup. Easy as that. Just put it on the shelf and…..

Okay. Maybe. Sometimes. The neutral shelf doesn't work. I mean it does work. In the sense that you don't automatically feel, think, or bother with the thing in question anymore. But the flaw of the neutral shelf is this. One day. One normal day. You will. Feel. Think. Bother. With whatever has been on the neutral shelf. It will just. KABLAM. And you will probably have a minor melt down. And cry. And maybe drink half a bottle of wine. Maybe. 

I know. I. Know. In the beginning the neutral shelf sounded pretty great. Right? A shelf to put everything that you just cant deal with. Things that are too much for you to hope for. Or believe in. Or maybe. Things that make you sad. Angry. That make you wish you could just ahhhhhh. Things that are just too. Much. 

Honestly though. Nothing in our lives is too much. It's true. It might seem like too much. But it's not. Papa even told us. He wouldn't tempt us more than we could bear. (1 Cor. 10:13) I think that means that the things we want to put on the shelf. The things that we cannot for one more minute. Feel. Think. Bother. The things that make it feel like our heart will explode. Will actually not make our hearts explode. 

The reason those things begin to seem like too much is not so we can ignore them. Or bury them. Or run away. I think they seem like too much because Papa wants them. He wants us to put them on Him. Not a shelf. He wants to take them. He wants to teach us how to carry them. How to use them. He wants to twist them around and make them beautiful and for our good. 

Sometimes it's hard to see. But those things that make us. Feel. Think. Bother. Well. Those are the things that make us. Us. Those are the things that draw us to Papa. So that He can make us more of the us we were meant to be. So take those things. That make you. Feel. Think. Bother.  Off the shelf. Let Him make you. Well. You.