A Little Dirt in the Corners

I have mentioned before that God sends us a common theme when he is trying to get us to perk up and take notice.  For me, this week has been all about corners.  God is awesome, because I would have ignored that little word, but He kept sending it waiting on me to sweep it all up into a cohesive thought.

It started the other day when I was sitting with the sweet lady who cleans our church and I was thanking her for what she does, and not just that, but the heart that she does it in.  She is truly working for the Lord each time she runs the vacuum or dusts the pews.  And she said "well thank you, but I always feel like I miss some corners", to which I responded "honey, we all have dirty corners".  I bet any one of you right now could gather a troop of dust bunnies or round up some grit...and that is just in the living room.

Have you ever heard of someone having to stand or sit in the corner when they do something bad? They have to go put there nose in the corner and think about what they have done and how they can make amends or choose differently the next time around.  They are asked to leave their "dirt" in the corner and live a new option from that moment forward.

Mark 6:10-12  “Wherever you go,” he said, “stay in the same house until you leave town.  But if any place refuses to welcome you or listen to you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.”  So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God.

 

When you are put in a corner, you can't go straight, you have to make a turn.  And isn't that what repentance is?  To repent, is to turn a corner, to switch direction, to live a new life in Christ.  You hit that corner and you "shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned" a life lived without Christ.  From that perspective, dirty little geometric junctions don't seem so bad...

 

Not that I am trying to enable myself or others to slack on their domestic duties (just kidding, I am totally giving myself an out!), - but why don't we let those earthy little angles serve as a reminder of all that we have been through, and overcome, and sacrificed in order to receive God's lavish grace and abundant forgiveness? 

 

I went to the automatic car wash yesterday and I have a small car and short arms (you can laugh, it's pretty comical), so I had to open the driver side door to reach the payment slot and wash button option.  I was wearing an orange waterfall type vest and when I went to close the door, I failed to notice that the bottom corner of my vest was trapped, hanging out the door.  I noticed just as the monstrous pom-pom washers came cruising by.  So I had to sit patiently and wait out the rest of the "ultimate" wash experience.  When it was over, this little corner of my vest was tri-soaked, hot-waxed, rain-coated, and spot-free rinsed. 

 

And I am so lovingly reminded that God cleans the corners of our lives where we are stuck and just waiting for things to cycle through. 

 

2 Corinthians 5:17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

 

Don't apologize for dirty corners, it means your life is full of activity and choices, and opportunities to take it all in a different direction.  The challenge is trying to decide if you have the energy to clean up the dust, to wait with your nose against the wall and allow God to wash, rinse, and sometimes...repeat.