Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Weird Wednesday

I've been doing weird things around the house today--cleaning the inside of cabinets, scrubbing the inside of my washing machine, touching up paint in the kitchen, putting handles on a refurbished dresser. These are things that aren't seemingly vital to the working of our household, but for some reason I felt like I needed to do them today.

Honestly, I usually only do the obvious things when cleaning-- laundry, bathtubs, toilets, sinks, dusting surfaces, vacuuming, mopping. I make sure everything is clean and presentable, but I don't go seeking out dirt or extra little jobs that need to be done. I mean, if I can't see the dust on top of the ceiling fan, does it really matter?

As I was scrubbing and looking for the right sized screws, I thought about all the hang ups and dark corners we have in our hearts. When we lie or steal or murder or commit adultery, we know (hopefully) we've messed up. Those are obvious sins, obvious messes. We clean them up by asking forgiveness and doing whatever we have to do try to make things right. What about all those "little" sins that we never even think about asking forgiveness for--hatred toward someone, lust (without action) toward someone, putting things/other people in front of our relationship with God, and many other seemingly small things that other people may not even see or know about. Maybe we don't even know they're sins.

Psalm 119:105 says, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." God's Word illuminates our path. It shows us the way to go. In its light, we can see even the darkest corners of our heart and life, the cobwebs we didn't even realize were there. The more we read His Word, the brighter that light shines inside of us and the farther it reaches, because we learn Who He is and what pleases Him, what is sin, and how to praise Him. In the light of His Word, our sin is exposed for what it is. And when we are able to see it and know it for what it is, we can rid our life of it. Then, there is only light!

Scrubbing the inside of a washing machine seems kind of silly (to me), but if we want clean clothes, we should have a clean washing machine. Having no handles on our refurbished dresser hasn't messed up our life (it's been that way for 9 months), but without handles, we haven't been able to use the dresser.

God wants us to to have everything we need in order to function in the kingdom of God. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says that Scripture is designed to make us complete and to fully equip us for the work of God. We need to be clean and we need to be functional in order to do God's work.

My prayer is that through reading His Word, I realize not only the "big" things He wants from me, but all the "small" things as well! Thank You, God, for showing me the Truth through everyday life!


Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Putting it into Practice...

As soon as you speak something out, the devil always tries to test you on it (Jesus never tempts us to sin-James 1:13). I'm tempted and tested everyday, but here's an example that just happened (literally, like, 5 minutes ago)

I was cooking some carrots on the stove and I heard something spill. I turned around and Kade had spilled his whole, entire drink on the table and floor. It was dripping from a puddle on the table to a puddle on the floor. I felt anger bubble up in the very pit of my stomach and then, something said, "Stop!" I stopped and in that moment, I heard a line from a song that was playing on the radio. It said, "The Enemy, he has to leave, at the sound of Your great name". The Enemy was the one who wanted that anger to bubble up and come spewing out--over a cup of tea! A ridiculous cup of tea that could easily be mopped up. I immediately felt all of that anger leave me. I went and got a towel and helped Kade clean it up. And you know what he said when he finished and handed me the towel? He said, "Mom, I love you", he hugged me, and that was that. Thank you, Jesus, for your patience and grace.

I'm glad that when I make messes, He's there to help me clean it up, cover it with His blood, and then forget it, forever. He doesn't look down, throw up His hands and say, "Are you kidding me?!? You made that mess again?!?" There's no mark left, not even a sticky residue (like the spot on my floor right now), nothing. Thank You for being so patient with me, God. Help me to make fewer messes! I love You!