Almost a month ago, we bought a "real" kitchen trashcan: The 13-gallon, stainless steel, foot pedal, removable insert kind. It is shiny, sleek, and has significantly more capacity than our previous receptacle.

Our former kitchen trashcan was actually a rescue: a salvaged base of a paper shredder that bit the dust years ago. And although it conveniently fit right under the sink, it filled up quickly. (First world problem, I know.)

Now because the new trashcan would not fit in the same spot, nor in our galley-like kitchen, we placed it immediately along the dining room wall just as you enter the kitchen.

We've had this new trashcan for a number of weeks. And when we have something that needs to be thrown away, we still find ourselves whipping open the cabinet door under the kitchen sink. Surprised by the void, we usually chuckle and then remind ourselves, "that's not where the trashcan is." While it was funny for the first week or two, the habit has become frustrating. "Ugh, why do I keep going back there?"

As I thought about my need to unlearn the habit of going to the old location, I couldn't help but reflect on the last eight years of my faith journey.

In My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers writes that as we grow, sometimes God desires us "to unlearn" more than He wants to teach us something. For me, that unlearning process has been challenging as I intentionally downshift from breakneck speeds of deeply reinforced patterns of wrong thinking.

Fueled by Paul's expressed desire for a spirit of wisdom and revelation to know God better [Ephesians 1:17 NLT], my recent journey as a 56-year-old has been a process of unlearning soul-wearying, life-long misinterpretations of the Father's heart that have undermined the absolute sufficiency of the cross. In it, I am discovering the Truth of His words, "I am gentle and humble of heart. When you are yoked to Me, your weary souls will find rest" [Matthew 11:29 VOICE]. And while I still sometimes go to the old places out of habit, I am growing in appreciation of Graham Cooke's simple counsel, "If all your thinking leads you to a place you don't like, have another thought." The pathway of choosing "another thought" is paved with God's gentle whispers, "that is not who you are... and that's not who I am," that lead us through a gateway toward deep and joyful intimacy with God.

Perhaps as you are reading this, a jaded and even resentful thought of, "Well that's just ducky for you" has bubbled to the surface of your mind. May I offer a word of encouragement to you? Author, Corrie Ten Boom writes, “Jesus Christ is able to untangle all the snarls in your soul, to banish all your complexes, and to transform even your fixed habit patterns, no matter how deeply they are etched in your subconscious.”

Just as there is grace to learn, beloved, there is grace to unlearn... and to relearn, resting in the refuge of God's empowering presence that enables us to become all that He sees when He looks at us in Christ. And along the way, may the words of Paul become yours. "[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection" [Philippians 3:10 AMPC]. Amen.

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This video exhortation, The Inheritance, was one of the avenues of God's grace that helped me begin to downshift from breakneck speeds of deeply reinforced patterns of wrong thinking. I invite you to simply sit and listen to it in a quiet place.

If this blog has been meaningful to you, I invite you to do two things. Subscribe to the blog. You will be one of the first to receive a heads-up via email when a new entry is posted! Then, I invite you to share this blog with your sphere of friends. You never know how God might sustain the weary through a simple word of encouragement.

Looking to deepen your intimacy with God? I pray this video exhortation, An Invitation to a Deeper Place, might encourage you in your journey of unlearning.