I am a complete pain in the neck about smells and sticky places –jelly and spilled soft drinks on counters and floors - are great revealers of my heart. Let me explain.
When I walk into a place, I pick up the scent immediately. Lovely, unlovely, fruity, baking, grilling, fresh, stale…you understand. This past Friday night I came into my house after being gone on vacation for a few days, and I was hit with the closed up smell. Not bad or good, but not lived in smell. I went straight to every candle in the strategic places of creating lovely environment and lit them. I had to do away with that closed up, not lived in smell.
Stickiness - that place of foot catching or elbow stopping that has been wiped up over and over and still doesn’t “feel” right. In my domain, inevitably it is jellies and drinks (tea doesn’t tend to be a stickiness drink). Again, this is irritating when you have gone over it many times with a wet rag convinced the stickiness is gone.
“Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” (John 12:3)
Between this scripture and Nancy Demoss encouraging me to embrace Psalm 139:23-24, the Teacher clearly showed me how important smells and spills can be in the importance of broken containers and why I need to be poured out or emptied (thus an empty thing can reveal some sticky, need to be wiped up over and over again heart issues).
I love Mary and Martha - the doer-too much talker/Martha and the learner-lover/Mary. Mary’s breaking and spilling released a smell that filled the room. Not everyone loved the fragrant smell. That in itself reveals hearts. Some are just not drawn to the Truth in the room. Her willingness to spill and wipe with her hair shows me the value of letting go of anything so valuable that I don’t want to share. When I spill those people and things into the care of Jesus, I have never wasted a thing! He is so worthy of whatever I deem my valuables – husband, children, health, finances.
Jesus responded to the verbal criticism of Mary’s action by saying, “Leave her alone. It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.” (John 12:7)
Father, may I see breaks and spills as refining opportunities to smell like You and to share You to receivers and resisters in my world. Only You can change a room with Your Presence. Amen
*candles and tile floors are great helps in dispelling unwanted smells and spills ☺
No comments:
Post a Comment