Where Did You Find God Today?

It seemed clean. I could see through it just fine…until I turned my car into the rising sunlight. 

Oooh, the hazy smudges, minuscule dead bug guts, road dirt. It glared at me — literally.  The brilliance of the rays accented the dirtiness of my car glass, making it hard for me to see beyond the filminess. It clouded my view.

So, as I waited for the light to change to green, I pushed the button on the wand to the right of my steering wheel, and squirted window cleanser on the outside of the shield. Then I flipped my wipers on full speed. Back-forth, back-forth, back-forth.

Well, that worked a bit. But, I realized there was haze on the inside as well. It was a residual of my breathing, mixed with fumes from the plastic dashboard, dust that slipped through the AC filter, and lint off my clothes. (Yeah. I Googled it to find out.)  Okay, maybe a few fumes from the cheeseburger and fries I got  at the drive-thru last week as well. I confess.

I grabbed a sleeve of my sweater (I didn’t have a rag) and wiped over the inside of the windshield in a tight, circular motion. Aha. Clarity. No more glare. Both sides cleaned…not perfect, but definitely a vast improvement.

Is that not indicative of our lives? Some dirt gets slammed into us- the offensive language or scenes on our TV shows that slip into the script. That touch of gossip we overheard in the restroom at work. The local news that has to relay all the ugly details. The younger coworker who is dressing in too tight clothes that accent the fact they work out–a lot.

Other things dirty us from our inside. Anger, jealousy a revengeful thought, a slight pilfering of office supplies, forgetting to pray before we dash out the door to face the world. negative self-talk.

Both work to form a haze over our witness. People cannot see Christ as clearly in us. And as each little thing accumulates over time, it may be hard for us to notice the view has become obscure.

It works both ways. Our view of the world may not be as clear. We begin to think –  Is it really all that bad nowadays? Perhaps times have changed,and so should my opinion. People seem more tolerant, maybe I should as well. It’s okay if I sleep in on Sunday, again. Everyone else does.

Our judgement has become clouded. That is until the Light of His Truth blares into our lives.

It may be a sermon, a passage in Scripture, or wisdom from a well meaning friend. Perhaps that small inner voice you know is not from your brain waves. Something throws a glare onto the filthiness you have collected in your life.

Time to wipe it clean…

• On the outside by being more diligent to keep away from temptations.
• On the inside to make sure we wipe the slate clean before we retire and seek God’s forgiveness, and perhaps other people’s as well, for any wrong we have done.

Next time the Son shines, it will be clearer to others, and to ourselves, that we are truly His followers. No more haziness.

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