I sat down in my usual spot on the edge of the third row from the front of the class. Not a fan of feeling closed in, I always went for the seat that offered the easiest way out, but it was also the best vantage point for vision and perspective. As I pulled out my notebook and pen, I felt his eyes watching me. I glanced over and sure enough, he was watching me intently with that look that always made me want to scream.
Deciding I wasn’t going to be intimidated by his manner I leveled him with a look and just said,
“What?”
He cocked his head a little, as though trying to get a better view, smirked, and then said, “You know, you might feel a whole lot more freedom if you didn’t wrap your hair so tightly and put it in a cage. You should just let it go!”
Yep, not a word of a lie, that’s what he said, and then he shrugged and turned around. I just shook my head and moved onto a new conversation with someone else. This guy? He was just like that and truthfully, it wasn’t the first time he’d said something like that.
So, why am I telling you this stupid story from my freshman year of college? Because, as annoying as my classmate Mike was, his point wasn’t wrong. This encounter has stayed with me all these years, not as a wound, but as a catalyst pushing me toward the way of simplicity, but please don’t ever tell him because I’ll never hear the end of it!
Cluttered and Tangled up
When I think back to those college days, I see a young woman who was just desperate to belong. I wanted approval, so I worked hard at constructing a picture of excellence. My goal was simply to present myself as someone who was in control of her life, because that’s what healthy and balanced looked like to me.
So, my hair? Yeah, when I could wind it up in a tight bun on the top of my head and place a beautiful ornamental accessory around it to hide the strays, I considered that a huge win. Maybe it was a little vanity, but mostly it was a manifestation of my desperate need to control the narrative of my life. My mantra in those days was, keep it together and look the part.
My soul was cluttered and tangled up with wounds, lies, and unbelief that created such a confusion inside. The tension between what I knew about God and the inconsistencies of my own experiences drove me into an ongoing cycle of fake it until you make it. I was convinced that if I just acted like it was true than it would be true. The problem is that faith doesn’t work that way.
I filled my life with all the right things and worked hard to be the good girl. I mean, Paul did say that we need to be all things to all people, right? Yeah, not quite. The work of striving and proving is a dismal effort because it is unfulfilling and ultimately, unsuccessful. The soul gets cluttered and tangled up when we look toward anything but God to fill the hole. We live in a world that is anything but simple, yet, the way of simplicity is exactly what we need.
The Way of Simplicity
Jesus models the way of simplicity, demonstrating how keeping God first leads to freedom. He was single-minded about one thing only, and that was to love God and love others. The life of Christ reveals the greatness of God and the work of the cross provides a resurrection for us too. The way of simplicity keeps the soul clear with a single-minded purpose. When the sole goal is simply to keep God and His purposes first, it clarifies everything with a razor-sharp focus.
Typically, when we think about simplicity we look towards our things. Having nice things is not a sin, but holding them too tightly can lead to distorted places of idolatry. When we equate the amassing of material things with success and acceptance, we begin a journey into bondage.
My Dad always used to say, “It’s nice to have nice things, but I never want to be owned by them.” His point? The more you have, the more you have to manage. It’s true. All the things that create a cozy homey atmosphere have to be cleaned. Think about that the next time you dust all the ornaments or clean out the junk closet.
Sometime after college, but still in the early days of marriage and parenting littles, I found myself longing for freedom from all the stuff. My journey began with an aggressive plan to restructure and organize everything because I really believed the best way to find peace was to find a way to control the chaos.
It didn’t take long for me to see that there was no controlling our life. No amount of organization was going to touch the craziness of it all, it was going to require a clean sweep. And so it began, the process of clearing out the excess.
Beyond the idea
The more cluttered our lives are the harder it is to find the presence of God. The way of simplicity creates space and margin so that we can see the movement of God and hear the sound of his voice. God is present always and He delights to respond when we call on his name, but when our perspective is blocked by the distractions of all the things we miss out on the good gifts He gives.
The biggest challenge of pursuing this kind of freedom is getting beyond the ideas we have of what it means to live simply. Letting go of attachments to possessions, people, and ideals can feel hard, but it’s harder still to try and maintain them while pursuing oneness with God. The reality is, you and I will only find wholeness in communion with the Father.
Happiness will never be achieved with people, places, or things, that’s the truth of it! True happiness comes through fulfillment, which is found in Christ—period. The way of simplicity helps us with alignment; to live according to the call of God.
Keeping God first is never once and done. It’s not enough to want Him to be LORD, we have to intentionally choose him to be LORD over everything, in every situation, and in every moment of our everyday lives. Simplicity offers a clear path by removing the obstacles of distractions so that we can live tethered to Jesus. What has helped me the most in my own journey in embracing simplicity, is focusing on what is gained rather than what is lost. Cultivating the art of letting go is no joke, that’s for sure, but the peace that comes with that kind of freedom is worth every sacrifice.
Pursuing the More
The way of simplicity leads to freedom because it opens the heart to the fullness of God. This discipline enacts an intentional choice to keep God first and live yielded to His will. There’s a powerful story in the Gospel of Mark that highlights this concept so well. A man came running to Jesus and asked what he had to do to inherit eternal life. After a brief exchange about what it means to live right (according to the law) because this man was indeed a devout believer, Jesus tells him, “There is still one thing you haven’t done…go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Mark 10:17-21
Following Jesus is costly. The man in that story? He walked away from Jesus because the cost was too great. Let me ask you something, how often do you walk away from the goodness of God because the cost feels too great? I don’t know about you, but my heart is convicted by the truth of this story every time I read it.
Pursuing the more of God isn’t about building storehouses of supplies, it’s about living from the abundance of God himself. Salvation gives us access to the heart of God. His presence is our provision and as sons and daughters, we need to learn to trust that. The invitation to trust and follow God requires relinquishing the attachments of ideas of entitlement. God is good and He promises that when we keep Him first and pursue intimacy with Him He will take care of the need. The way of simplicity helps us to lean into the goodness of God where we find wholeness, fulfillment, and freedom.
Attachments
So, it’s true that the way of simplicity often starts with a deep look at our attachment to material possessions, but it goes much deeper. Letting go of things has typically been easier for me than managing my attitudes of entitlement regarding acceptance and achievement. Remember that kid with tightly wound hair? All she really wanted was to belong and to be affirmed, she was just wrong in the ways she went about trying to find it.
Late one night, during my first year of college I had an encounter with the LORD. He opened my eyes to see that although I had professed faith and was pursuing a degree in Christian Ministry, I didn’t trust Him. He revealed the root of the issue and then extended an invitation to follow Him into the more. I made a conscious choice that night to trust Him and I’ve been working to live from His promises ever since.
I firmly believe that life transformation sounds good right up until the minute you step into the healing process. The unraveling and undoing of all the lies, wounds, and distorted attachments feel chaotic, confusing, and sometimes downright uncomfortable. I know, I’m not really presenting an appealing case, am I? Stay with me, though because all of it is worth it.
Cultivating faith begins with the choice to trust God to keep His word. God parted the Red Sea to make a way for his people to escape, but 40 years later as he led them to possess the promised land, they had to step into the water first. We all have those moments and God builds on them. Every invitation takes us into deeper waters, but when we trust there is deeper healing.
The fruit of the way of simplicity
The way of simplicity leads to freedom because it leads to the shalom of God. It helps us to keep God first, by ruthlessly eliminating things that distract and detract. Can I tell you how refreshing it is to let go of both mental and physical clutter?
Living simply creates space and margin for what really matters. We live in a world that tells us we have to prioritize relationships, jobs, and possessions in order to matter and experience fulfillment, but it’s not true. That’s not how God created us. He invites us to surrender it all and follow Him, because it’s only in Him that we find wholeness.
The way of simplicity is about cultivating the art of letting go. Worth is not measured by accumulations or achievements, but by the extravagant love of God, who frees us up to live and move in unimaginable ways. I don’t know about you, but I want more of that.
One of the things I am enjoying about the simple life is how it is helping me to become a more distilled person. What I mean by that is I have better clarity and there is a deeper purification that happens in my heart and soul as I yield and trust God instead of lies that clutter my mind. It helps me to be clear about my purpose so that my speech can be honest and direct.
The way of simplicity is a life-long journey of following Jesus. His way is always best, leading us into the unforced rhythms of grace. We can try to solve the issues of longing through striving and proving, but it never works. So, go ahead, let it go, and follow Jesus into the land of the living, where there is healing, and wholeness, and freedom.
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