The Stain Master

I cannot look anywhere or do anything without “seeing” You, Lord!  Revealing Yourself in some special way.  Leading me into some Life-Blessing Lesson.

“Where can I go from Your Spirit?  Where can I flee from Your presence?… [in] the heavens… in the depths, You are there… Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.”  (Psalm 139:7-10)

Like yesterday… in the most mundane chore.

The “where” concerned two places dear to every fisherman’s heart — the deck of his boat, and the dock where he moors it.  The “what” involved two stains that had to be removed. One was — how to put this delicately? — bird poop.   🙂   The other was blood.

The power washer was called into service.

There are few chores I find more satisfying, Lord!  The immediate result of ground-in dirt yielding to the pressurized water.  Except… yesterday wasn’t quite so satisfying.  Those stains were stubborn.

Challenge #1:  The Bird Poop

The longer it stays, the harder it is to clean.  Baked in the sun, it melts (melds) into the surface of the dock.  The force of the water eventually prevails… taking not only the poop, but the paint.   🙁

Challenge #2:  The Blood

Whose blood was it?  The fish that didn’t get away?  The fishermen, who routinely manage to hook themselves (whether or not they hook any fish)?   🙂   Either way, the power washer cleaned only the surface.  The blood stain looked permanent.

But looks can be deceiving.

That’s when You met me, Lord.  In the midst of poop and paint and “permanent” stains.

We all have — how to put this delicately? — our own “poop”… right, Lord?  Sin effects “baked on” by the “heat” of our poor choices and denial.  No amount of scrubbing on our part can remove them… even when we rub our skin raw.

And the blood?  Evidence of “hooks” we have swallowed whole.  Lies that hold us fast despite our desperate attempts to break free.  The more we thrash, the more we bleed. Even ripping our guts out before our “catcher” can heat up the frying pan.

Until the real Power Washer shows up — The Stain Master, Himself!

You don’t overpower us, Lord, rubbing us raw from the outside-in. You empower us, making us new from the inside out.

“… if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation:  The old has gone, the new has come!”  (2 Corinthians 5:17)

“… He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 1:6)

And when the blood from our wounds is covered by the Blood from Your wounds, Lord, we are left with much more than “indelible” stains of grief.  We are left with a Permanent Promise — a seal — no one can ever wash away.

“When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance… ”  (Ephesians 1:13-14)

“… nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 8:39)

Joyfully — and permanently — Yours… !!!

Abba’s Girl