“This reminds me of something I like. I’m not sure what it is.” He crinkled his nose and took another whiff. With a shrug he handed me the jar. “Do you know?”
A friend of mine sells scented waxes, soaps and sprays. Last night, she, my son and I gathered around the dining room table and sniffed sample jar after sample jar. Some we loved, some made us shake our heads and hold our breath. “Not for me, thank you.”
Some smelled so good I’d be ravenous all day if I had a constant whiff of them – pralines, cinnamon buns, sugar cookies, apple pie.
Some smelled like different things to us. “Oh, this reminds me of…” The others would sniff, scrunch their eyebrows and give their head a quick shake. “Really? I don’t smell that. To me, it smells more like…”
A few sparked a vivid memory.A whiff of one reminded me of my mother’s perfume. Though her temporal life ceased on earth over a decade ago, tears sprang into my eyes. I hadn’t expected that sharp of an emotion.
I have read that our sense of smell is one of the most powerful triggers to our memories. A sudden scent can bring back stabs of pain, tears of joy, or a heart-clenched fear. It may jolt an emotion filed so far back in our little grey cells that it catches us by surprise.
My son and I have shared memories, as do my friend and I. Some of the fragrances related to all of us. We could smile and click into the memory together. “Yeah, that’s it.” But, for some of the others our noses detected, our reactions to them differed. Only we knew what our noses sensed.
To me, Scripture is like that. There are some which make us all smile and nod. But, a few, when read, may fall flat on our ears. We can’t relate. Even so, every now and then, a verse triggers an emotion. Joy, conviction, humility, reaffirmation. It is as God tapped on our soul and said, “This one’s for you today.” Amongst the black printed letters on a white page, or blinking cursor on the computer screen, lies a special message just for us. It triggers something in us–just us.
Have you found God’s whisper through a verse in the Bible? Did it touch your heart? Please share it. It may be the catalyst that triggers the scent of His love– the exact thing another person needs to experience today.
Where Did You Find God Today? 