Stripped Bare - Saturday November 07, 2015
Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. Hosea 6:1 ESV
Last spring our house was in upheaval. Not only had we had flooding in the basement, but we had carpets cleaned on the first and second floors with furniture moved out of the rooms. That's how our lives felt for a spell.
Sometimes God sets apart a time for testing and sifting our hearts, refining us, checking our motivations at a deep level. In Moses' time, God said, "Remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness . . . that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart" (Deuteronomy 8:2).
In the basement bedroom the carpet got really soaked. John read up on mold, thought about the foam pad under the carpet, and decided it would have to go. So we tore off the carpet, pulled up the foam, carted both out to the driveway, and got the concrete floor dry. I finally got to clean the back corners of the basement bedroom closets which had suffered a mildew problem for some time. Without the green carpet below, I felt free to scrub down the walls with Clorox, removing the blackness of years.
Hosea 6:1 is scary. But sometimes God has to strip us down spiritually to get to the roots of things. Why? "That he may heal us." He puts His spotlight on us in a crisis or a hardship and reveals . . . what? Pride? Fear of others' opinions? A desire to just give up? A lack of faith in His love or protection? Lies about myself? ("I will always be a failure; I am worthless; I am not precious to Him.") Endure His "tearing;" it's for your mending.
Submitted by:
Dotty Vanderhorst
Cornerstone Community Church
Overland Park, Kansas
One-Year Reading Plan:
Ezekiel 16:42-17:24
Hebrews 8:1-13
Psalms 106:13-31
Proverbs 27:7-9
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