I’ve been thinking a lot about the difficulties of life and besetting sins lately, particularly while I’m straining to paint my entry wall, the L-O-N-G and H-I-G-H block wall that runs along our LONG driveway. (Are you getting the impression that I think it’s tediously long?)
I love the wall, but not when I have to paint it.
I know. I should crack open my piggy bank and buy a paint sprayer, but I’m too cheap, am watching my home improvement budget like an eagle eyeballs prey, and I keep telling myself that all of this back breaking labor is good for my health.
Ah, exercise. Lots of it.
The main problem—
The problem with my block wall is that it’s not smooth. Block is formed concrete, and that concrete has plenty of little pockmarks and pits. Sometimes air pockets formed during curing causes holes. Big ones. And fifty-one years of blistering sun and monsoon rains have caused even more pitting.
And that means that even if I use the fluffiest, puffiest roller cover made especially for the roughest surfaces, I can’t make the paint ooze nicely into those cracks, pits and holes. I need to lean and press while I’m rolling, really put my back into it.
And apply more paint to the roller and go over it again. And dip a thick brush into the paint and use that to coax paint into the cracks, pits and holes.
And it’s the same thing with those pesky, besetting sins I seem to continuously struggle with, the ones I either have difficulty giving up, or the ones I—if I’m honest—am not so motivated to relinquish.
Like the cracks in the wall, I need to keep working to erase them and cover them, to allow the Spirit of God to reshape, mold, and fashion me into the vision He has for me. The vision that is the most pleasing; the best vision for me. If I don’t do the best job I can on painting that wall, the weather will quickly undo what I’ve done, and the wall will look ugly.
After the paint dries, I need to walk back outside to the wall and observe it from both a distance and close-up, to better identify areas I’ve missed. Areas where the paint was applied thinner than it should have been to properly cover the wall.
And so I get the roller and brush loaded up with paint again, touch up, and re-observe again. I might have to do that several times.
It’s exhausting and often frustrating that I can’t get it all done—easily—the first time.
Once again, the same is true for my trespasses. I need to work on them, stand back and observe them, see where they need work and correction. Understand how I need to submit to and work with the Master Painter to work out my salvation and be rid of those trespasses once and for all.
I know I’ll never reach perfection while still planted on this orb. Like Paul, I know what I should do and still don’t do it; and I do what I know I shouldn’t be doing. Part of being a fallible human being.
But it’s worth the work.
My wall looks stunning. And it’s going to raise my property value.
And when I work on my sins, cooperate with God in shedding them, keep taking stock of them and working on cleaning them up and discarding them, I look better—to God, me, and everyone else.
I know it’s kind of weird to be thinking about sin while I’m painting a wall, but it’s a long, tedious process; and my mind usually wanders off into esoteric thoughts like that when I’m doing otherwise mindless, repetitive activities.
It could also have something to do with the fact that I’m taking a fabulous Priscilla Shirer Bible study every Tuesday morning at my church.
I’ll tell you a little about it next week. It’s already having a profound effect on my life.
Gathering with other like-minded Christian women is also a plus!
Until next week,
What activities remind you of the sin in your life, and how do you work on them?
Blessings,
Andrea
Andrea Arthur Owan is an award-winning inspirational writer, fitness pro and chaplain. She writes and works to help people live their best lives—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.