Clear Out the Temple by Elizabeth Lux

Clear Out the Temple

by Elizabeth Lux

“Then going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, ‘Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!’”

(John 2:16, NLT)

I told God I was mad at him today. It wasn’t the first time and probably won’t be the last. When I admit frustration at my circumstances, it opens a conversation straight between my heart and my God’s.

Allow me to share a few vulnerable soul cries from this morning’s journaled messages to God.

I am still mad at you. . . I feel exposed as if I am a female wanderer panhandling for health and security when I should be a treasured bride, honored and protected and cherished. Are these symptoms of the flesh? Surely.

Yet this is how your princess feels. And I know you care.  

I wrapped up my entry saying:

My Father, I beg you to help me. . . Help me surrender back to you.

Heart exposed, I opened the book of John to continue my Bible study. I thought I had finished journaling, but God knew better.

And what does my God respond with? John 2:13-25. Righteous anger of Jesus Christ for the temple of the Lord. Throwing out the money changers and those defiling the Holy Temple (I’m not gonna have any mascara left).

“Passion for God’s house will consume me,” verse 17 and Psalms 69:9.

As I read this, I remember. . . my body is his temple. It is the Temple of the Holy Spirit.

“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,” verse 19.

I am part of Christ’s body. His Church. And his righteous anger burns against anything that would separate me from him. I am his cherished daughter. He fights for me. . . Lord oh Lord rescue me! Clear out this temple! Let nothing distract from you!

The Lord convinced me that writers who submit the keyboard to the Lord will praise him. Not just wordsmiths, but any human with a heartbeat. To fully give that keyboard over, I must continue to lay this temple at his feet and ask for his rescue because I am not strong enough to handle the flesh I carry.

What part of your temple are you struggling to put in his hands today? Journal it. Tell him. Open your Bible and see what he says.

Lord, give us strength to surrender our struggle. Help us be vulnerable and open our temple for you to clear out.

Elizabeth Lux is author of the Falling Through Portals and webcomics Stolen by the Sea and Sword Crossed Enemies. She has been published by Thread Magazine and Inkspirations Online, and a recipient of the Voice of Democracy Award in 2014. She has a bachelors in English and Creative writing from the University of South Florida.

Elizabeth resides in Tampa Bay, Florida working as an account admin by day and creator by night. She is an author, artist, and content editor pursuing publication of her YA fantasy, Starless Skin. Visit her at https://elizabethlux.com/ or Elizabeth Lux (@elizabeth_lux_) • Instagram