Hay season is right around the corner so I decided to do a thorough and much needed cleaning of our barn. Currently we use pallets with wood over them on which we stack the hay. Our barn is old and not very critter proof, but to my surprise, when I flipped up a piece of wood that was laying on one of the pallets, I discovered a skunk underneath! It took a few seconds for my brain to register what it was but it didn't take long after that for my legs to register what to do next...Run! After I gathered my dogs and got a safe distance from the barn, I decided that I needed to go back and flip the board back up so that the skunk wouldn't feel like sticking around. I needed to remove it's sense of security. I realized later that the skunk wasn't the only thing that needed to be removed from my life, a few pesky little sins needed to be chased off once and for all too.
Sometimes it takes God turning over boards in our lives for us to see what has been hiding underneath. We have a canny ability to act as though we don't know they are there. In some cases, I believe that we truly aren't aware of their presence until God reveals them to us or they start to smell a little! Sins can be like this skunk, and until they are revealed to us, we ignore them or are oblivious to them. Either way, God knows they are there and will deal with them in His timing. I know that was the case with me today. I was blessed with the opportunity to see an area of my life that needs to be thoroughly cleaned.
As I grow in my walk with the Lord, I find at times, that I become disillusioned into thinking that I am running out of sinful behaviors. I tend to look back and see how much work He has done in my life and I start getting a little puffed up. It is about this time that the Lord will flip a board over and low and behold...another sin! Where did that come from? I am starting to see that it is true; sanctification is a process and takes a lifetime. I will never be done sinning this side of heaven, so I remember what my husband says, "...as long as I am a little better today than I was yesterday". So don't worry if you are not as "good" as you think you should be, God's work is not yet done. And don't worry if you think that you are running out of sins to work on because God will flip boards as needed!
1st Thessalonians 5:23, James 1:4, Hebrews 12:10
1 comment:
This is a great little story. How true it is. Good luck with the skunk!
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