I love to look out of my living room window and see green. Unless the green is pollen-speckled glass. Having this view well after spring has sprung, I finally decided to clean my windows. So, I trekked outside and scrubbed away the mildew and pollen. Feeling accomplished, I skirted indoors and plopped down to revel in my accomplishment. Spots. Plain as day, there they were. Smears and flecks I had expected to wash away remained behind in plain view. So, I gathered up my supplies and headed outside again. Closer inspection revealed it was an inside problem, and targeting the real problem rewarded me with the unhindered view I’d looked forward to. We are windows to the world. A glass through which others are able to see Jesus and through which we ourselves view Him and the world. But from time to time, we can become as speckled as a pollen-coated window. Valiant efforts may spit-shine the outside, but closer inspection through the Word sometimes reveals an inside problem.
A few days before I marched outside with washing products in hand, I’d had cleaned the inside of my windows… but I forgot about the child who visited shortly after that cleaning. Her happy, cheesy fingers had traced condensation droplets and tickled green lizard underbellies from the inside of the glass. A sticky residue had been left behind. In our hearts, it can be the little things that smear and smudge. Small aggravations. Pet peeves that crawl under our skin then burrow deeper. Tiny errors that haven’t been put to rights can be like cheese where cheese oughtn’t be, streaking up the window of our soul to taint our perspective and to prevent us from being the brightest witness we otherwise could be. Repeated washings are required if we are to give the right view of Christ in us, if we are to behold Him as He truly is, and if we are to see ourselves and others with Spirit-led clarity.
Becoming mindful of the inside job that was needed, I noticed a dead beetle on a windowsill. I sighed. Getting the beetle meant I’d have to move a small piece of furniture. “It’s hardly noticeable,” I reasoned, dreading the extra effort required of me. I almost left it there. But the idea of it lying there dead, stinking, and deteriorating until it fused with the paint job, motivated me to take the next step. Moving the table, I wiped down the sill, finding more than just a single beetle. In its company were 10 dead mosquitoes and a lifeless fly. The spotted surface said they’d lived there a bit before their demise. When we begin letting the Word work on our spirits, sometimes, we encounter obstacles to its final work—actions that require energy when we’d prefer to be apathetic. We can feel resistant to prayer, fasting, being kind, or asking for forgiveness, for example, that may enable the Word to reach a deeper place that needs setting to rights. But when we take that step, the decay can be swiped away with a swift touch of the Spirit and the Word.
When we let the Holy Ghost clean out the spots in our lives, He will definitely get ahold of the outside, but the inner work will not be left undone. And when He is through, the finished work will have us seeing clearly and others will clearly see Him in us.
Tip/Tidbit: Pause in stillness and ask God to reveal where He wants to do a restorative work in you today. The work He does in your heart will help others—and you— see Jesus more clearly.
A few days before I marched outside with washing products in hand, I’d had cleaned the inside of my windows… but I forgot about the child who visited shortly after that cleaning. Her happy, cheesy fingers had traced condensation droplets and tickled green lizard underbellies from the inside of the glass. A sticky residue had been left behind. In our hearts, it can be the little things that smear and smudge. Small aggravations. Pet peeves that crawl under our skin then burrow deeper. Tiny errors that haven’t been put to rights can be like cheese where cheese oughtn’t be, streaking up the window of our soul to taint our perspective and to prevent us from being the brightest witness we otherwise could be. Repeated washings are required if we are to give the right view of Christ in us, if we are to behold Him as He truly is, and if we are to see ourselves and others with Spirit-led clarity.
Becoming mindful of the inside job that was needed, I noticed a dead beetle on a windowsill. I sighed. Getting the beetle meant I’d have to move a small piece of furniture. “It’s hardly noticeable,” I reasoned, dreading the extra effort required of me. I almost left it there. But the idea of it lying there dead, stinking, and deteriorating until it fused with the paint job, motivated me to take the next step. Moving the table, I wiped down the sill, finding more than just a single beetle. In its company were 10 dead mosquitoes and a lifeless fly. The spotted surface said they’d lived there a bit before their demise. When we begin letting the Word work on our spirits, sometimes, we encounter obstacles to its final work—actions that require energy when we’d prefer to be apathetic. We can feel resistant to prayer, fasting, being kind, or asking for forgiveness, for example, that may enable the Word to reach a deeper place that needs setting to rights. But when we take that step, the decay can be swiped away with a swift touch of the Spirit and the Word.
When we let the Holy Ghost clean out the spots in our lives, He will definitely get ahold of the outside, but the inner work will not be left undone. And when He is through, the finished work will have us seeing clearly and others will clearly see Him in us.
Tip/Tidbit: Pause in stillness and ask God to reveal where He wants to do a restorative work in you today. The work He does in your heart will help others—and you— see Jesus more clearly.
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