Sunday 12 June 2011

Cleaning House

I was cleaning the yard with my family today and I realized that even when things don't seem to be that dirty, when you polish it, it looks that much better. I live on a farm and I know that it isn't any excuse, buy our yard is ridiculously messy! We were pressure washing the driveway, and before hand I said to my parents that there was no need to do it because it wasn't that dirty. How wrong I was. We took away more than 6 wheel barrels full of dirt and sludge. SIX. Things usually end up being dirtier than they appear.
My family may be messy with how clean we keep our things, but I believe that there are worse things than a messy outside, and that is the inside. If we hide or keep something from others, we don't realize how dirty it is until we clean it up. Just like a window that is dirty, often times we don't notice how filthy it is until we clean it.

For example, I realized that recently I had been extremely short tempered with everyone around me, and I didn't even realize that I was. No matter what anyone at home did, I was not happy. I felt horrible inside, but I didn't know what was going on, so I just went on doing what I was doing. I went to church on Sunday morning, a bit miffed because I did not feel like going. I felt like it was a chore, too much effort than it was worth. The moment I walked in the church doors I was wishing I wasn't there, when suddenly it hit me. I didn't have to be there. I didn't have to do anything for the church. I did it because I wanted to. Those people inside the church did not deserve my horrible attitude. When worship started, the songs we sung were, "I'm coming back to the heart of worship" and "Jesus Messiah". Boy was I convicted.

I realized that everything I did was supposed to be for Jesus. The words,"He became sin /Who knew no sin
That we might become His Righteousness/He humbled himself and carried the cross," hit me hard. Right then and there I asked God for forgiveness. 

It was in that moment that I realized that the reason why I had been so extremely rude lately was because I wasn't reading my Bible. I was stressed about final exams, keeping good grades, what I was going to do after graduation, and it caused me to falter. Inside I knew that I needed to read my Bible, so I felt guilty about what I wasn't doing. I am happy to say that I started to read my Bible, and the day seems brighter. It is strange how God works in miraculous ways. 

This same thing goes for secrets or things that you have hidden. When you try to hide something it just itches. I was recently at a friends house, and I touched poison ivy by mistake. When I didn't put something on it right away the marks grew and began to be itchy. The more I touched it, the more it hurt. This is the same as something you have hidden in your closet, something that you need to get out. When you don't fix the problem , you lie more, become moodier, and many times fall away from God. 

If you have something that you are hiding, don't hide it because in the dark it festers and grows until you don't even realize the main cause of the pain. 

"I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Trust everything with the Lord God, because he is the only one we can lean on. Don't try to hide something from him, because, well, he sees all!

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