Where Did You Find God Today?

Recently a foul odor whisked through my living room.  In my somewhat open-concept space, the kitchen is separated from the living room by a half-wall, so I ran the disposal – nope. I emptied the trash- no, not that.  With a shrug, I sprayed some air freshener just as my Bible study group arrived. But, they began to smell it as well.  It became more predominate as the evening progressed.

What was it???

After they left, my foot hit the carpet by the couch and a felt a squish. The carpet was wet! Moving the couch, which butts up to the half-wall that separates the kitchen from the living room, revealed the source. The wall was bulging, the baseboard cracked and the carpet tinted blackish-brown where it met the wall. We had a leak!

It seems one of the apartments above us had a crack in the disposal drain pipe. Water had been dripping down the wall and pooling behind ours on the first floor. Mildew had taken over as well as tiny water bugs. YUK .

When they opened the wall, it all cascaded out, along with the stench.  It was pretty nasty. It took two maintenance men and a carpet/mildew specialist, all with skills I did not possess using materials and lots of tools I didn’t have, to clean it up. That took time. The wall had to dry, the carpet had to be sanitized, stretched and dried. The sheet rock replaced, and new baseboards installed. Finally, a fresh coat of paint was applied.

What struck me is that the same can be said of the little sins in our lives. Nothing big by the world standards, mind you. The white lie to a friend, using the office copier for personal use, sleeping in instead of having your prayer time, being purposely rude to someone in traffic, not quite tithing in the offering this week because that dress on sale needed to be in your closet,  losing your temper with your kids and saying something cutting about their character instead censuring their actions, never quite apologizing to a hurt friend, watching that soft porn movie or reading that steamy romance novel…

…drip, drip,drip behind the walls we build up. No one needs to know, right?

But eventually, some physical evidence will emerge. It may be restless sleep, a tendency to be grouchy, muscle tension, or a sour stomach.

It may take more than just you to solve the problem if you let it go too long. Of course, Our Lord is the master fixer – the only true One who can make our mess clean and pure again. His mercy can cut through  the walls we’ve  built to reveal the accumulative effects of our “little drips” sins. But He may bring in other people or tools to help do the clean-up work. It may be a passage in Scripture or a sermon by your pastor that whacks the first blow at the wall. Perhaps a close friend to pray over you, or a Christian counselor,  will provide the tools or the know-how to eradicate that pesky little sins that have been eating at you deep inside where you thought nobody could see.

You will probably have a part in the process as well. It will take time. It may get a bit nasty. But it will be worth it.

..because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins.   Leviticus 16:30

...let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:22