I believe God will meet you where you are and talk to you in a way that will get your attention. I don't believe you have to be in a fancy church, praying a long prayer using impressive words for God to hear you. I don't believe he only speaks to us through a burning bush or handwriting on the wall. I've never personally encountered either of those things (though it would have been nice a few times). Instead, God talks to me in the midst of my life, usually while I'm having coffee and reading devotion, or while I'm driving, or while I'm cleaning.
I recorded my thoughts on Facebook this morning -
"My eyes and my to-do list tell me I should be cleaning the house. My body says I should be sitting on the couch drinking my coffee. My mind thinks I should go outside or get in the car and just drive. Trying to find a happy medium to satisfy them all."
Turns out there were several ladies having the same thoughts and feelings as me, and they offered words of advice and encouragement. I decided I would do a "quick clean," hit the high spots dusting, run a vacuum over the floor, and wipe down the bathrooms. I figured it wouldn't take more than 30 minutes, then I can be out and on to more fun things. God had other ideas.
For the next two hours, me and God cleaned and talked and listened. He revealed things to me through the vacuuming, the laundry, the dishes, the dusting. I hope you can read past the physical house cleaning and see the spiritual messages He shared with me.
I thought back to years ago and how I always hated to clean. The vacuum didn't pick up that much. The broom and mop were dirty so mopping didn't do much good. The dusting just stirred up more dust, and the dishes and laundry were never-ending. He reminded me how blessed I am now to have the new cleaning tools I don't mind using.
I remembered how much my husband complained when we first got the new carpet. "Why do you have to have so many people over? The carpet's just gonna get ruined quicker." Well, is that not why we got it? What good did it do to expand the living room, get new furniture, new paint, and new carpet if we weren't going to share it with others? The dirt and stains can be cleaned. (That's like buying a new car and not driving it because you're afraid to put miles on it - ???)
When it came time to sweep and mop the kitchen, I thought I would just offer to buy somebody's lunch if they would come do it for me. Sounded like a simple plan to accomplish the one chore still causes me pain and I don't enjoy at all. But God very plainly said, "Um, no. YOU have a huge mess piled in the corner of YOUR kitchen. YOU need to clean up YOUR mess, and YOU need to sweep and mop YOUR own kitchen." Geesh! You'd think he was a parent or something!
I decided to reward myself by taking myself out to lunch. As I sat there savoring my sweet tea, I thought, "With all the options available to me today, with the weather so beautiful, why, WHY did I choose to clean house?!" God gave me a one-word answer, "Peace."
If I had rushed through my chores and out the door, I would have missed my time with Him. I would have wandered around all day, accomplished nothing, dreading the thought of coming home to a dirty house. Instead, I had a calm feeling that, when the time came for me to come home, it would be to a welcoming place. When the sun shines through the windows, I don't have to worry about seeing the dust floating around. When I walk across the floors barefoot, I don't have to worry about stepping on anything or tracking dirt. I don't have to worry about somebody coming over and being embarrassed for them to use the bathroom. I know that the dishes and laundry are done, that my family will have what they need. I know that when I go to bed tonight, I will have clean, crisp sheets to rest in.
Now, I'm not crazy enough to think that the house will stay this way. Life happens, and it can be messy. Dirt will be tracked through, things will be spilled, the garbage will pile up. And the baby will laugh, and friends and family will gather, and we will enjoy our supper, and God will be with us through it all. And next Saturday, we'll clean it all again.
I guess you could say that today I stopped and smelled the Pine-Sol.
