Pox, Splotches and Other Uglies
When I saw the first two little red bumps I didn't really think much about it. I had seen an occasional bump or two on her little rump before and only needed to tend to it with a little diaper rash cream or powder. It wasn't until I talked with my husband the next morning that it sunk in. Those little red pimply looking bumps had spread all over her body. My little girl had Chicken Pox. Poor little thing!As I watched the number of bumps grow, along with her misery, I observed something rather remarkable. Every time we had to change her diaper or clothes she put up a fuss and refused to do it. It would take at least 5 minutes of "discussion" before the first sock would come off. She just couldn't stand to see those ugly red blotches all over her body. We tried to explain that they weren't permanent and would soon go away. Those words seemed to ease her mind but only until the next diaper needed to be changed.
I got to thinking; boy doesn't her repulsion mirror my own reaction to the "ugliness" and sin I see in my own life. (Hmmm, do you think God was showing me a life lesson?) It's so easy to just turn away from the junk I see instead of dealing with it. Sometimes it seems so bad, so ugly, and so hopeless that I think it can't ever go away.
Oh sure, I could refuse to "change my clothes" (isn't that a pleasant, aromatic thought) and pretend the sin and ugliness isn't really there. But that doesn't really get me anywhere (except a few strange looks and fewer friends). I have to face the ugliness and sin in my life.
But hey, isn't that why Jesus came to die for me? Isn't that why He rose from the dead? I can't do anything on my own, but through Him, I can. Since I belong to Him and He lives in me, I now have His power to face this sin. But, not only can I face it, I can conquer it. That is what Romans 8:37 says, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."
You see, something I learned a little while ago is that God doesn't show me something that needs to be changed in my life and then just walk away and tell me to just "do it". If He has shown me something He wants me to change, it can be changed. Listen to what He says in Deuteronomy 30:11, "Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach." Once I started believing God only gives me things that are within my reach, I was able to start to change those ugly little splotches in my life. You can, too!
© 1999 Patricia K. Holder