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TheTime COIN
Camille Anding
There is a verse in Matthew that says, “When you enter into your closet and shut the
door, pray to your Father which is in secret; and your Father which sees in secret shall reward
you openly.” I realize that the word “closet” could mean any secluded, private place, but it was
my closet that brought the conviction.
Recently, I was frustrated over the size of our bedroom closet and the way my clothes suffered
from suffocation with the crowded space. My closet housed more shoes than I really needed,
and the overhead shelves just gave room for more articles of clothing.
The solution was obvious. I could give a lot away and make a neat, welcoming closet.
Instead, I wished for a room-to-run-in closet that would hold four seasons of
clothing. A closet the size of a small bedroom would be perfect.
It was in the midst of my closet dreaming when I thought about the missionary
from Honduras. He told about the poor families in his home country, living happily
in single room dwellings with leaky roofs and outdoor water hoses for showers.
I did not recall his mentioning closets. Perhaps, it was because a single pair
of shoes and a couple of T-shirts do not require a room of their own.
It was a piercing conviction. I realized I could never refer to our closet as a
prayer closet until I made some changes. I would need to do some cleaning
out and giving away.
My own closet evaluation, I regret to say, is like a lot of other American closets.
Greed, excess, and hoardings are the culprits that infiltrate our closets. “Staying in style”
not only crowds our closets but can also drain our incomes.
God is not an outdated figure, galaxies away, and unconcerned with our lives. He desires to
wean us away from our self-centered lives. The world continually asks, “What’s in your wallet?”
I believe God asks, “What’s in your closet?”
106 • MARCH 2024