7/21/10 – Thoughts From Under the House
The tub drain is blocked. Even the 55-gallon drum of Drano won’t clear it. Looks like a trip under the house to start taking apart pipes to solve the problem.
This is not going to be a fun journey. The bathroom is at the far end of the house. And it’s not a leisurely stroll… it’s hands-and-knees crawling through the dirt and who-knows-what in the dark.
And it was about this time that God whispered in my ear – “I’ve got something I want to show you.”
This isn’t going to be pleasant, is it. “Possibly not.”
I began my troubling adventure by preparing myself for what I was about to encounter. There were things that I knew would be there – dust and dirt, mold and mud, cobwebs and spiders. Things that I knew hadn’t seen the light of day for a very long time.
Sure enough, before long I was wiping away the unseen cobweb that I had crawled through, spitting and sputtering trying to get the dust and dirt out of my mouth. I was prepared mentally, but that didn’t make it any less unpleasant.
“You know, you’ve got a crawlspace in your house, too,” God whispered. I know – I’m IN it!
“What I meant was there are places inside you that haven’t seen the Light – things that haven’t been examined in a long time.”
Uh, oh.
“There are things in deep dark places in your heart that you haven’t considered in a very long time – things that you’ve said and things that you’ve done and things that you’ve thought about saying and things that you’ve thought about doing. Just like under your house they’re dirty, and in some cases nasty, and you’ve ignored them all.”
But God, c’mon! I keep the parts of my house that everybody sees nice and clean, and welcoming and presentable – nobody comes down here!
“I did.”
I finally reached my destination and got the trap cleaned out. But in the process of putting everything back together, I found where a pipe was so brittle that it crumbled in my hand. It had been eaten nearly completely through by years of chemicals poured into it trying to remove the clog.
“You know, it’s amazing how many people try to fix a problem the easy way, without getting dirty to fix it right. Then they’re ‘all amazed’ when it suddenly turns into a catastrophic problem ‘out of nowhere!’ It’s almost funny from My point of view. Had they only examined it when it first became a problem, it wouldn’t be suddenly overwhelming – kind of like that pipe in your hand that I let you see before it broke and flooded everything down here.”
Yeah, thanks for that. Of course, now I’ve got to go to the hardware store to get a replacement for this, and then crawl back down here all over again just to get it fixed.
“Sometimes you’ve got to go back into the deep dark places several times before something’s fixed right.”
To the hardware store and back, pipe replaced and – after some trial and error – all leaks are sealed. Then I’m on the way out, happy to leave this dark and dank place, relieved that the problem is solved.
“You know, if you clean up the dark places a little more often, examine them on a regular basis, take a few cobwebs out and do periodic maintenance – it won’t get nearly as nasty, and after awhile you won’t mind so much checking it every now and then just to make sure.”
Thanks, God. I promise to be more introspective, and examine my heart and mind more often for things that might offend You. I’m sorry that I’ve left some things for so long, and thanks for sending the Light, Your Son, Jesus, for my salvation.
“Good. Actually, I was talking about this crawlspace, too – it’s nasty down here. And don’t forget your Light.”
7/19/10
Dark, stuffy and the smell of mothballs. That’s what I think of when I think of a closet.
Unless we’re talking my prayer closet. And then that’s anything but what I think of!
“The Heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech, night after night they display knowledge.” Psalm 19: 1-2
This is my prayer closet!
