This morning I woke very early with many concerns running through my mind. After lying in bed and talking with God about them, I finally decided to get up and read. Lately I have been rereading Courage, Dear Heart: Letters to a Weary World, by Rebecca Reynolds. It is an excellent book and has met me in the midst of challenging times and wrestling with God.
As I walked out to the living room to read, a terrible odor struck me. Since I was still waking I just thought the dog smelled bad, but as I walked across the rug, I stepped in something slimy. I realized that the dog had diarrhea all over the rug and another spot on the concrete floor, which of course splattered far. So I spent 4:30-5:00am cleaning up the nastiest thing.
I can deal with bodily functions and illness from humans, because I love and value them. Dog bodily functions and especially when they are ill, are a different story. When a child of mine vomited all over me, it was gross and I needed to shower, but my bigger concern was that my child was sick.
As I was thinking about the horrible stench and working hard to remove it from my home, I began thinking about the stench of the brokenness of this world and the sin in my own heart. Rarely do I see my pride as vile as this liquid dog poop. But the stench of pride does more damage. When I get defensive or when I try to control things that are not mine to control, I damage more than the rug. I damage relationships. A rug is easier to fix.
Right now, life on this earth stinks too. Much of the world is grieving and/or angry over what is happening in Ukraine. Two years of life have been significantly impacted by the pandemic. Friends are grieving the loss of loved ones. Others are dealing with the effects of abuse. Others are dealing with the impact of racism or poverty or a spouse that left. There is a lot of dog diarrhea in this life. So where is the hope? The reason to keep going?
Rebecca Reynolds reminds us that we have a God who didn’t just look on this from a safe distance. He stepped into this broken, foul-smelling world and took all of that sin and suffering upon himself. When he was covered with our sin, filthy like dog diarrhea, he cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt.27:46) Even when I feel like I am alone, God is still with me. But the Father turned away from Jesus because he took on all of my sin and received what I deserved. Separation from the Father. He did that for me and for you! He did that because of Love! I am not alone as I walk through times of grief or struggle. I have a loving Lord who has experienced terrible grief. He walks with us through the valley. (Ps. 23:4) And one day, the stench will be over and all will be made new. I’m not really sure if this stench will come out of my rug before that day. But until the odor is gone, I will allow it to remind me of the amazing love of my God who took my filth upon himself and gave me his beautiful aroma.
Beautiful
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