How to Have a Drama-Free Life - Step 2

Step 2 – Get Away!

I have a confession to make.

I have a messy closet. Shoes are scattered all over the floor. Too many shirts on hangers are jammed onto the rod. Scarves are everywhere. My twenty-year-old high school yearbooks, a few of my now teenage sons’ baby blankets, old trophies, and other treasures I can’t part with are thrown onto a shelf.

I certainly didn’t inherit my closet organizing ability from my mother.

You should see my mom’s closet.

My mom saves all of her shoeboxes and keeps her shoes in them. She neatly stacks the boxes and arranges them according to type and color. She has color-coordinated bins that are meticulously labeled for items such as belts and scarves. She regularly purges her closet, and only clothes that are in season hang on the rack.

Oh well. I guess I’m gifted in other ways.

Have you ever heard of the term “prayer closet”? There have been times in my life when my kids were younger that I had to tell my husband to watch the kids and I would go to my messy closet and shut the door so I could have time to focus and pray. In a closet when you’re alone with God, you can be honest with Him about everything going on in your life.

Mary was honest with the angel when she told him that she didn’t understand how God’s plan was going to work. She didn’t hide her fear or her questions. Luke chapter two shows us how Mary responded to the angel. In verse twenty-nine, it says that “she was troubled,” and in verse thirty-four, she asked, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” (NKJV)

            In our culture we’re told to be tough and strong and to never let them see you sweat. If we’re not careful we can relate with God that way as well. Take time to pray daily. When you pray, don’t recite something you’ve memorized or rattle off a paragraph that means nothing to you. If you really want to get a handle on the drama in your life, if you really want to be able to respond to the trials that surround you with the peace and patience of a mature Christian, you must communicate with God sincerely when you pray.

            We need to take time to get away – get in a closet if we have to and be real and transparent with God. That’s the only way to avoid an over-emotional, stressed out, overwhelmed response . . . in other words, drama.

            Self – Reflection Questions

            Do I pray daily?

            Do I pray real, honest and transparent prayers?

            Do I have a set place and time that I get away and pray in every day?