Day 2 of Cleaning Week and we’ve made some progress. The biggest “leap” ahead is using a new carpet shampooing machine. And, even better than that is teaching one of my kids to use it!! Another kid cleaned bathrooms today and we cleaned out the entry hall, so progress is being made.
Spiritual cleaning? Well, yes, there’s some progress. But MUCH slower and harder to see immediate results.
Our pastor has been preaching a series on getting rid of things inside you that are attractive to the enemy of our souls. When we hold on to unforgiveness, bitterness, a strong self-will, pride, etc., we create spaces for the enemy to occupy and then mess with us. Sometimes eliminating these things can be as simple as asking God for forgiveness and to take them away. And sometimes these things have been with us for so long that they are like a tumor built into our soul, entangling us in its junk. Or, to use a different metaphor, they are like wickedly deep and jagged ruts that we run over and over and over, bumping our way “forward” or “backward,” or even being “stuck.”
Bad physical ruts tear up vehicles. Bad spiritual ruts tear up spirits, souls, and (often) even lives. Ask anyone who has been trapped in anger or alcohol or pride or pornography or….
But “good ruts” can actually help us. Our spiritual disciplines, our friendships, our prayer life, and our memorized scripture are tools we use when the road is very rough.
Being able to say the “Our Father” or quote Psalm 23 or sing “Amazing Grace” can be the thing that keeps you going when you feel like you are walking through the fire or about to drown in the flood. In that sense, these “ruts” that are developed are good; they give us guidance and security. They remind us of where God is in the midst of our progress.
This is one of my good ruts:
“But now, [my name], listen to the LORD who created you.
O Israel, the one who formed you says,
“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
When you go through deep waters,
I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
you will not be burned up;
the flames will not consume you.
For I am the LORD, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” (Isaiah 43:1-3 NLT)
I love putting my name in these verses and then reminding myself of the constancy, the faithfulness, and the strength of our God. I want ruts like this to be built into my innermost being.
In this life we will have struggles in our circumstances, our relationships, and in the depths of who we are. Sometimes those struggles are a result of sins we need to confess or other “junk” we need to let God clean out. But sometimes those struggles can be so long and hard that we are grasping (and grateful!) for the firm support of family, friends, church and God because we feel otherwise we will drown or be burned up. “Progress” in these times comes in remembering the good ruts you have built into your life – the firm foundation you have when your life is built on Christ.
““So everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, will be like a wise man [a far-sighted, practical, and sensible man] who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods and torrents came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” – Jesus (Matthew 7:24-25 AMP)
Tomorrow we will continue with Cleaning Week – and set the kid to the carpet cleaning again. And I will continue my internal work as I wrestle through Hebrews 12. But tonight I am reminded that my spiritual house is built on the Rock. Even if it needs some cleaning, its foundation is firm and the floods and winds of this life will not cause it to fall. And for that, I am grateful.
Jehovah Jireh,
Thank you for the firm foundation we build our lives upon when we commit ourselves to being Jesus followers. Thank you for your faithfulness and care of us, especially when we are walking through the valley of the shadow. Thank you that when we know you as Lord and Savior you will keep us from drowning or being burned up in the fires of this life. Thank you for the “good ruts” of spiritual disciplines, friends, and churches that help us when we struggle. Thank you for the call – and the encouragement – to let you clean out our spiritual messes so that we might be holy and closer to you. Help us allow you to do this work within us so that we might become more like Jesus, in whose name we pray, Amen.
[H]e said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV)