Mon, 25-Mar-2013 - Deep Cleaning

Shower in Nature, a photo by Shelle Ette on Flickr.

There is something beautiful about getting clean, but the process to get clean sometimes gets us so dirty.  The past year, as I reflect, God has cleaned up a lot of parts of my life.  I had friends, acquaintances, stuff in my life that were not good and often times, I didn't realize the extent of how bad those things were for my life until they were gone.

My husband and I have been working on detailing the inside of our car, after the years of detailed neglect and abuse from the kids and my not being aware of how much yuck had accumulated and stuck itself in those hidden places.  Even after vacuuming up all the stuff under and behind the seats, we uncovered more things to take care of.  It required putting on gloves, using tools and supplies to get the car clean.

The more we cleaned, the more we realized that more needed to be cleaned.  The process is not complete and has been a step-by-step.  Sometimes we work on it together.  Other times it's separately as we each need to attend to different things.

What is the spiritual application here?  Sometimes when God does a deep cleaning in our lives, the initial stuff has to be removed first and then it reveals other things that need to be cleaned out.  It's a layering removal process.  There were times we had to use good force to get stuck on gum in the carpet using a flathead screwdriver and soaking it in a solution, then forcing it out.

Well, we need to soak in the Word of God, in His Presence with praise, worship, and thanksgiving.  In Psalm 100 it talks about this.  Then, God will sometimes bring something along that can help get us in the direction we need, and as we repent, renounce of those sins in our lives, God brings a cleaning, a refreshment and new life into our lives.

Just yesterday, the car was feeling much better after my husband and I worked on cleaning the car.  Today there is more cleaning, and it's giving the inside of the car a totally new appearance, revitalizing what was old, stale, unattractive into something new, inviting, comfortable.

What needs cleaning in your life that God is urging you in?