I took a pair of my work pants out of the basket and hung them on
the line. I’d washed them and used lots of bleach. But when I pinned them up,
sadness came over me and I started to get choked up.
There were dozens of paint spots and stains from all the recent
projects. There were more than I even realized. I thought of how many stains
are in our lives. No matter how we try to bleach them out, they remain a stain.
And no matter how open we think we are about our lives, if we take an honest
look, we’ve all got something to hide, something we don’t want shared.
God already knows every one of those things. The Lord was right
there with me when I stole that makeup. He was there when I ganged up on that
girl and threw her bike in the creek. He was there when I broke a friendship by
saying something hurtful. God said to Jacob “but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins. Thou hast wearied
me with thine iniquities” (Is 43:24). Instinctively we know that God is
omnipresent, but still we do stupid and wrong things in His presence. Why?
Because we don’t really BELIEVE He’s there. In our bedrooms, in
the bathroom, at the bar, the casino...you name the place or situation, He’s
there. The Lord is with each of us everywhere, whether we like it or not!
There’s no hiding from God. “Whither
shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art
there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there” (Ps 139:7-8).
God sees all our stained laundry, but He loves us so much for
believing in His son Jesus, that He’s willing to overlook all our sins and
miraculously wipes them out, for His own sake! He doesn’t WANT to look at our
stains. He only wants to see that we believed in His son Jesus and for that
alone, He “blots out and cancels your transgressions, for My
own sake, and I will not remember your sins” (Is 43:25).
I went out and got my painter’s pants off the line, smiled and
breathed a sigh of relief. Yes they’re stained, but as clean as they can be for
now. Though God was there when every splash of paint hit them, He doesn’t care.
He only sees who wears them—me, the one He loves.
Usually the Lord gives me some kind of a theme for the upcoming year,
but this year He has been loudly silent; that is until today when I was
thinking about this article. The theme for this year is simply: GOD LOVES ME,
AND JESUS LOVES ME. Sounds mundane, yet how many of us really believe it and
think it on a daily basis? I’m going to tell myself every morning even before I
get out of bed and I know my year will be a great one!
Knowing we’re loved is still the greatest motivator there is. So if
you haven’t got a theme for the year, see if God is inspiring you to join me in
mine. God really loves each of us and we can do what it takes to live that way.
Love, Carolyn
I offer free downloads every week on my Facebook page: Christian
writing A Journey in Faith. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Christian-writing-A-Journey-in-Faith-by-Carolyn-Molica/199692326825472
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