Those who know me know I tend to get messages in pictures or everyday life. As I was up on a ladder listening to worship music, I thought about how it had been some time since I had written.
If anyone physically could have seen me, they might have chuckled. I had taken on the adventure of painting my kitchen in its fullness: the ceiling, the top half above the chair rail, below the chair rail, and the trim – four cans of paint/ four colors in all. One half was done, the ‘easy’ room, but here I was, on the ladder, attempting to tackle the side with the cabinets.
Picture this: I’m tackling the ceiling first; there’s a space a little over 8inches between the ceiling and the cabinet – can I just tell you, this half of the room was a whole lot easier to paint when it was empty before my ‘miracle’ kitchen makeover, lol. Here I was, not quite as agile as I was eleven years ago, trying to lodge myself – one foot propped on the kitchen countertop, one on the ladder, head cocked sideways, trying to reach into this crazy space to paint the corner of this ceiling first and then the back wall.
During this time, God began to speak to my heart about some things. You see, some things in our lives, much like the kitchen’s first half, aren’t too bad and just need refreshing, like that fresh coat of paint. Maybe it’s something you have dealt with in the past –bad habits, a bad attitude, etc., that just needed a reminder or freshening up.
Here, with my head cocked between eight inches of space, was a more challenging space to ‘clean up.’ In this ‘secret space,’ those around may not necessarily see what’s in this area – maybe it’s secret drinking, maybe not quite telling the truth, perhaps it’s ‘just negative attitudes’ in that closet that no one sees. Reaching those places is a little more challenging, but what a difference they make to our souls when you work on them….
While painting the kitchen, the other thought was that all my attention was in this area. Although the living room or the bathroom needed attention, that was not what we were dealing with today.
It reminded me of a story a pastor once shared. At one point, he was working with a man who had a gutter mouth, and a fellow Christian said, ‘Why aren’t you talking to him about his swearing? Every other word is the “F” word (and I don’t mean ‘faith,’ lol). As the pastor prayed about how to handle this, he felt like God said to him, ‘That’s not the area of his life that I’m working on, and you shouldn’t be worried about it either.”
This got me thinking: How many times do we as humans wish someone would straighten out an area of their life, like the living room, but it’s not the area that God is asking them to surrender at the time? How about in our own lives? How many times have we been so hard on ourselves because we can’t ‘fix’ something in our lives… you fill in the blank… but maybe it’s not something God has His finger on.
On the other hand, like that ceiling or confined space, it might seem like a hard place or area to tackle. Can we trust that if God has come to tackle that secret place in our lives, He will give us the grace to ‘clean it up’? Will He truly help us through it if we invite Him in?
Can we have grace for each other? Can we trust that as God speaks to us in daily occurrences, He will guide our steps through them? You’re not alone!
Psalm 37:23-24 (Living Bible)
23 The steps of good men are directed by the Lord. He delights in each step they take.
24 If they fall, it isn’t fatal, for the Lord holds them with his hand.
Proverbs 20:24 (New International Reader’s Version)
24 The Lord directs a person’s steps. So how can anyone understand their own way?
SHEILA BOUCHARD 