Corona Devo 3308
If we refuse to deal with something unpleasant will it:
A. Go awayorB. Not go away and possibly (probably) fester, and become worse.
I think we all know the answer to this question, because we have all been guilty of not dealing with difficult things from time to time.
I had a fresh reminder to deal with life's unpleasantries (instead of putting them off) yesterday.
We have a camper. We don't utilize it as much as we should...but I do really enjoy being at the camper.
Over the past couple years, I have known that we had an issue with a little bit of water leaking into the storage component of the camper. It's never been a lot of water, but from time to time when I would unlock the storage area, it would be moist and possibly even damp.
What do you do about that?
I did nothing.
I ignored the issue.
And I became freshly aware of it whenever we would go to the camper and I would open that storage door and see or feel some water. The leaking area bothered me, but not enough to actually take care of the dampened problem.
In general, and (let's face it)--in reality, unpleasantries do not disappear just because we are not dealing with them.
Water brings mold. And water also can bring ants. We had both.
We needn't have had either if I had just dealt with the leaking storage area. But now we are definitely dealing with it.
~~~
I'm not sure that not fixing the leak in the camper qualifies as sin, but it's a reminder to me to deal with the little things in life before they become big things.
Whether it's a fix-it issue, a crack in a relationship, or a sin-issue: we know when things are not quite right--and we should take steps to correct instead of ignoring or camouflaging.
We aren't the only ones who don't deal with life well (sometimes). The Bible is blatant about sharing real-life examples, so that we might be better at nipping things in the bud.
As king--David should have been off fighting a war (2 Samuel 11:1), but instead he was dilly-dallying at home, and the dallying got him into a dilly.
One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, (3) and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”
(4) Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her.... Then she went back home. (5) The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.” ~2 Samuel 11:2-5
~~~
A. Go awayorB. Not go away and possibly (probably) fester, and become worse.
The truth is, David did deal with it, but not in a moral or owning-up-to-it way. Instead of admitting his sin, he decided to try and do-away with problematic evidence of it, which in this case meant Bathsheba's husband (Uriah).
(This would go under the category of "refusing to deal with something unpleasant" and then having it: "(probably) fester, and become worse.")
In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. (15) In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”
(16) So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. (17) When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died. ~2 Samuel 11:14-17
If I would have just tended to the leak in our camper storage-area...it would not have developed into the ant issue.
If David would have just not had an affair, or if he had been honest and repentant about it...then it would have saved Uriah's life and much heartbreak and hardship to the house of David.
Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. (8) I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. (9) Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. (10) Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ ~2 Samuel 12:7-10
~~~
Are we hoping (pretending) that it will go away?
It won't.
But it will possibly (probably) fester, and become worse.
No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.(7) Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. (8) The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. (9) No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. ~I John 3:6-9
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (7) And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4:6-7
~~~
I knew better than to ignore a leaking-area in a structure, but I just didn't deal with it.
We always know-better than the sin that we enter in to. And yet, sometimes we still enter in anyway.
Let's know better and do better today. Let's lay our foundation on the truth and teachings of the Lord, and let's obey what He says!
From ants to adultery--our outcomes will be infinitely (and eternally) more positive if we will just do what the Lord says.
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? (47) As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. (48) They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. (49) But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.” ~Luke 6:46-49
Blessings,
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