I cleaned out my Spice cabinet this week.

(Heavy sigh.)

Every time I clean out a cabinet, I promise myself I will not, under any circumstances, let things get that bad again.

But you and I both know the truth.

Let me just tell you what I found. Two cans of baking powder, one dating back to the year 2000. Two full jars of lemon pepper, two jars of thyme, two varieties of allspice, four different flavors of meat rub, two large pepper cans, two round boxes of salt, three containers of corn starch, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.

Or something like that. From now on, you can call me the spice girl.

As I lugged my full-to-overflowing Hefty cinch bag to the trash can, I lamented the waste and wondered how many trips to Hawaii I could have taken with the money I spent on items I already had, but couldn’t find.

Okay, probably not many. But you get the point.

Now I have a sparkling, gleaming spice cabinet. Each time I open the door, I expect a bright light to shine down from above and an angelic chorus to sing heavenly harmony.

We’ll see how long it lasts.

It’s funny, isn’t it? All those times I sent poor Mark to the store to buy things, and I had them right here under my nose. Well, maybe not the pepper. I would have sneezed.

But all the other stuff . . . I went out looking for what I thought I needed, when the exact item I needed was right in front of me. All I had to do was look.

I’ve actually done that for more important things, too. I’ve gone looking in the wrong places for my peace, my happiness, my self-esteem. I’ve tried to find worth in my job, in the way I look or the size of my bank account. I’ve tried to find my value based on what other people think of me.

But the whole time, I had the keys to all of those things right in front of my nose. And His name is God.

You see, God created me, and He thinks I’m great. He doesn’t always like everything I do, but His love for me will never change. He tells me that if I depend on Him, He will give me peace and joy and an inner happiness that cannot be found anywhere else.

I am so valuable to Him that He gave His life for me. He promised never to leave me or forsake me. He is always right there, and He’s given me everything I need.

Still, I go looking in all the wrong places for the things that only He can give. And I end up with a cluttered mess.

The good news is that His love for me is unending. And when I’m ready, He will help me clean out the clutter of my life. Then He’ll replace the old, outdated junk with shiny new life. He’ll replace the chaos with peace.

I can almost hear the angels singing.

2 Peter 1:3 “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him . . .”