Contributed by Adeline Ting • Dec 2, 2025

I, for one, have my hand up to having an overcrowded daily schedule. There are always deadlines to meet, meetings to attend, reports to submit, classes to run, assignments to grade, family to manage, and tasks and chores to do. And sadly, this conveys an overcrowded life as well. As a result, I simply ran out of room for Jesus. And this explains why at times, I feel overly exhausted and stretched – I was relying on my own strength as Jesus is (sadly) no longer central in my daily life.

Ironically, these are the times too that I could feel Jesus standing at the door, waiting patiently to be reinvited in. But, was it pride that kept me from inviting? Or was it fear, anxiety, bitterness, unforgiveness? Too much clutter to clear; which are the ones I could remove? Which responsibilities, distractions, comfort and habits that I can make do without? As I struggled on my own, I could almost hear Jesus saying, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” (Matthew 8:26).

Jesus is calling me to trust in Him. Clear the clutter, set boundaries and reorder priorities. And to do this, I need to surrender. I need to trust in Him fully, surrendering my plans to Him. It also means seeking Jesus and having Him reorganize my daily schedule, my routine, my decisions, and my attitude and relationships with others.  I must have faith that Jesus will transform me to be a better person. He can bring peace into my heart and calm the chaos and remove distractions in my life.

And so, I pray that I learn to intentionally pause, to slow down and create time for God, for loved ones and to reflect. As I reorganize my own clutter, I pray that I can help others invite Jesus into their lives as well. Together, we can learn to push busyness aside, make room to welcome Jesus in, so Jesus can help us to realign our priorities to God’s sovereign plan. Let the Advent season encourage us to re-examine our lives. I pray that, may my life, and yours, be a permanent dwelling home for Jesus, now and forever more.