What’s on Your Plate?

“Make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it as a seal: Holy to the Lord”. Exodus 28:36

Many years ago, a close friend gave me a beautiful white plate adorned with an ornate black letter “J.”  We had recently spent many hours discussing the many things I had “on my plate,” which ranged from family and school obligations to professional career items to ministry endeavors.  As soon as I saw the plate, I knew what it signified with no explanation needed. The question that immediately emerged in my mind was “What do you have on your plate that is keeping you from seeing Jesus?” I was given a clear mental image of all of the things currently on my plate that covered the “J” from being seen.

Over the next few days, God used that gift profoundly in my life.  He started by leading me to carefully evaluate all of the activities in my life. I found that some of the things that I had felt absolutely had to be on my plate were actually just perceived necessities that did not contribute to God’s plans for my life or my eternal purpose as His daughter. Some things on my plate just had to go, so regardless of how important they once seemed, I carefully removed them from my plate in order to see the “J” more clearly. And some things were supposed to be there, but were in a much bigger portion than God had intended. So those things had to be reduced to help make the “J” visible.

But God didn’t stop there. The second day I had the plate, I endured significant emotional turmoil over a overwhelming situation in my life, and in the midst of my tears, I sensed the Holy Spirit saying “You’ve removed many tasks from your plate, but how many emotional things do you keep there that take up your time and cloud my name and presence?” With a sullen heart, I had to admit that He was right.  For as long as I could remember, I had given Satan control over my emotions and had allowed the enemy to pull me away from God far too often. In that instant, I knew that I must conquer my emotions and stop allowing them to take up residence on my plate. Though it would not be easy, I would have to scrape each of them off one at a time.

What I found when I tried, however, was that scraping them off was impossible.  While it had been easy to eliminate some activities from my life just like removing vegetables from my plate, I found that my emotions were connected to deep places in my heart and had bonded to the plate through the years as if they had been baked on in a kiln. To remove them, I would have to allow my entire plate to soak in the living water of Christ. Only then could the heap of emotions be removed…by Him. I was and still am powerless to do this on my own. Today, God is still removing the final bits of residue from my plate, but I can also see him using His warm radiance to dry me off and His promises to shine my plate back to the beautiful luster it had when He first gave the gift of eternal life to me.

Pause for a moment to consider the things that are on your plate. If the plate symbolizes the everyday activities in your life, is Jesus clearly visible at all times?  If not, spend some time in prayer over what needs to be removed to allow you to see the “J.” As you do, recognize that not all activities that need to be removed will be easily identifiable. Satan is the master of disguise and often slips things on our plates as beautiful fruit that looks so appetizing and healthy that it is almost unrecognizable as something that is standing between you and Christ. Bear in mind that the enemy even uses things like our acts of Christian service to his advantage.  When the action on our plate becomes the focus and not the “J,” then that action is not a fragrant fruit from God, but rather a rotting substance that needs to be removed. 

Now, spend some time in prayerful thought over the remaining items on your plate that God has confirmed He placed there. If many of the items on your plate are short-term activities that have a defined start and finish, are you on track with your timelines for completion? Or have you procrastinated on completing some things while adding new projects to your plate?  This overlap can be just as dangerous toward stealing time from Jesus as the unwanted items on your plate.  Oftentimes, it is most important to finish one before beginning another.  This is a life lesson God taught me, and when I received this gift, I was reminded of this part of the lesson each time I would have to tell my daughter that she must finish her vegetables before she could have dessert. Though some of the tasks ahead of me might have lost the initial excitement I had for them, it is still my responsibility to complete them before moving on to the next exciting thing God has planned for me, unless He has indicated otherwise.

Finally, after you’ve prayerfully evaluated the activities in your life, spend some time really digging down deep within your soul to identify any emotional barriers on your plate.  Consider that stressors are spiritually unhealthy and seek to remove them.  Of all the things that can distract us from God, stress is among the most destructive because it can and does emerge intermittently and frequently throughout the course of a day, if allowed. Instead of permitting stress or any other emotion to take up residence on your plate, focus on the promise in Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Then, allow yourself to be fully submerged in the word of God to be effectively cleansed by His living water. But don’t stop there. Invite Him back each and every day to wash your dirty plate again and again to allow it to shine with brilliant newness. In doing so, your plate will become as pure gold, and your life will proclaim itself to be inscribed as Holy to the Lord as you dine with Jesus each day.