Little did I know when I got up and read my devotion this morning titled "Coming Clean with Me Brings Healing" how much God would give me a clear picture of exactly what that meant in full.
Our dryer hasn't been working properly for over a year now. I've cleaned out the vents multiple times, and it's better for a little bit. But after the last few weeks with it taking hours, sometimes it would run for 3 hours, on just one load, I told Jamie we have got to do something about it or buy a new one.
Jamie and I decided to pull the dryer out to the driveway this morning and use the air compressor to blow all of the lint that had built up out of it. (Thanks to Papa for the idea). We began to take it apart, compartment after compartment, and we found quite a few surprises along the way. My hair, for one, was tangled around just about everything possible. I'm not sure how I have much left on my head after seeing that today, and I'm definitely not sure how it got in the spots that we found it. There were sunflower seeds, springs out of pens, and lots and lots of dirt along with the lint. As we'd blow the air compressor, we'd get covered in all kinds of stuff flying out sometimes gagging us or getting in my contacts making it hard to see. We spent a couple hours making sure we got to every part that could be clogged up and not letting the dryer work properly. Once we did a complete sweep, we put it all back together and hooked it back up with the gas, electricity, and the vent.
Now was the time to see if it was worth all the effort and getting dirty. I ran a load through the washer and then began the dryer. SURPRISE! The dryer was finished drying the clothes before the next load in the washer was complete.... PRAISE JESUS! It's dried 5 loads in less than 5 hours now when prior to the cleaning it out, it would have taken days to do.
What a picture of life! Sometimes, we, like the dryer, aren't running as well as we could because sin creeps into our lives and slows us down. Instead of confessing those sins as soon as possible, we ignore them thinking we'll just get better or go away. Or we try to do temporary fixes on our own. They might help for a little bit of time, but soon, we are right back to where we started.
1 John 1:9 says If we confess our sins to him,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
I believe the thing I learned the most is that we have to open ourselves up...compartment after compartment... and be willing to expose even those hidden things (which aren't hidden to God anyway) in order for Him to cleanse us completely. Knowing He's never going to turn away from you, why not let Him love you in this way? Just like the dryer functions in a whole new way, we, too, can experience great healing! That healing brings such peace!
Beeeeeep! Another load is complete as I'm typing!
Won't you let Him cleanse you today?
You won't believe the results of surrendering your all to such a Loving God!
