WRITTEN 5.25.22
ON THE PORCH
“THAT’S POO!!”
“That’s not just gas, that’s poo!!”
Tuesday night during the wind and rain, Ace, Sierra’s dog started whining softly and put his head in my lap. Having been through the storm the night before, I thought he was anxious about the coming weather. So, I patted his head and told him it would be okay. I thought being in the house would be enough to ease his mind. Then he began all-out crying at the door. I let him out and because it was raining, he came right back in. He never even left the porch. This went on for an hour or so. I gave him a calming chew, I let him in my lap, and I laid on the couch with him. Benny even invited Ace to sit with him. Nothing eased the restlessness inside him.
A little bit later, my nose burned as a distinctive odor permeated the air. Dogs have gas, that’s nothing new to us. This smell was stomach-turning nasty. I sent all the dogs outside in the rain. One of them had business to attend to, and I planned on waiting them out.
In the meantime, the smell in the house didn’t dissipate. I looked around to no avail. Then Benny started smelling it, so we investigated more. In the middle of Sierra’s room was a big pile of poo. Ace had been trying to tell me for over an hour, but I didn’t realize what the problem was. Even after cleaning it up and turning on the air purifier, it took a while to get that smell out of our house.
When I have sin in my life, I like to think I can relegate it to a corner of my heart and overlook it. But I can only do that for so long before my entire soul stinks. Maybe sin a little here and a little there, just like the dogs having gas. But when ignored, it rots and festers and ends up a stinking pile of poo.
**Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24
Only God can show us areas in our lives that reek and need to be attended to. I can medicate those areas with other things, like I cuddled with Ace and giving him a calming chew. He enjoyed it, but it didn’t deal with the underlying issue at hand. He had a pile of poo in his gut that needed to come out and nothing would help until he dealt with business.
Unlike the sign, I cannot fence my sin in on the east side of my heart, and only hang out in the west. Eventually I will have no choice but to take care of the sinful matters in my heart, and by then it might be an emergency. Sometimes I have symptoms that manifest themselves in my body. My physical and mental health is affected by things I’ve hidden and ignored.
The rank smell in our house did not diminish until we dealt with the poo and flushed it.
Today, I ask God to search my heart. Show me where the wicked ways are, so I can ask for forgiveness and quit trying other solutions. Only He can forgive and clean up those places within me. After Jesus forgives and casts those sins out, I can hang out in the east and the west without worrying about the stinch.
**Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10
**As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12
Good morning, LORD. Thank You for promising to show us the areas we need to work on if we just ask. Thank You for being so faithful and promising to forgive if we just ask. Examine my heart within me, and show me where I’m failing. Help me to find the “stink” and deal with it. Create a clean heart from the ugliness and replace it with your sweet fragrances. Remind me to think on good things and be thankful. In Your Holy name, Amen.
**Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things, Philippians 4:8
CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART
ON THE PORCH 