Recently my youngest son and I helped my daughter move. We'd driven into the night to get to the city she was moving. We were going to stay in a hotel she had stayed before. We arrived late, and the hotel was already booked. Making a phone call my daughter found a hotel just down the street with only one vacancy. We quickly made our way to the hotel, and got the room. It was past midnight. We were exhausted. The dimly lit parking lot caused a little concern when we had to leave an uncovered trailer full of furniture in it. The dimly lit parking lot should have been a warning to what we would find when we opened the door. While this hotel was not in an undesirable area of town, nor did I consider it low priced, it fit the 'roach motel' description by it's state of disrepair alone. There was sign at the front desk stating the property was a smoke free environment. Evidently some of the previous occupants didn't see the sign, for the smell of smoke was heavy in the room. Entering further into the room I couldn't help but do a deeper inspection. I have a habit of keeping my reading glasses on top of my head. I can't tell you how many times I pulled them down to inspect our room. I had to make sure the filth I was seeing was actually as bad as it looked. Everywhere I turned there seemed to be filth. Nastiness seemed to fill every corner top to bottom, and wall to wall. The nasty room was almost bad enough to make me go back outside and sleep in the truck. Did we really want to stay here? Could we get any rest, and be ready to work the next day? What about my grandson, would he be traumatized?
Filthy and torn curtain.
Nasty carpet stains.
Nasty carpet stains.
Filthy lamp shade.
Dented lamp shade.
Nasty and torn window shade.
Filthy kleenex holder.
Wrong size mattress.
Broken soap.
We did stay there. We did get much needed rest (2:30 am -6 am). My grandson was not traumatized. The next morning we unpacked the two trailers full of household furniture, and personal items. When we finished, my son and I headed home. On the journey back home, the filth in the hotel kept coming to mind. I realized my heart can be a lot like that 'roach motel'. The filthiness and nastiness occupying my heart, in the form of sin, makes me question why God would be willing to occupy it. If God did wear glasses, which he doesn't by the way, I'm sure he would have to keep on, and keep on, and keep on, pulling them down to see if my heart was really as bad as it looked. Upon further inspection, his conclusion would be 'yes it is'. As He looks, filth and nastiness probably seems to fill every corner of my heart from top to bottom, and side to side. A temper, a sharp tongue, bitterness, negativity, and procrastination are some of the filthy traits that show up uninvited in my heart on occasion. The nastiness would probably make any occupant want to leave, vacate, and find a different heart to occupy. Could he find a place to rest in us, and prepare us to do His work? Will He be traumatized by my filth and nastiness?
He will never leave or vacate:
Deuteronomy 31:8 - The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 - Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
Ephesians 1:13b-14 - When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of his glory.
He can find a place to rest in us, and prepare us to do His work:
Romans 10:9-10 - If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
Titus 3:5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.
1 Corinthians 10:13 - No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
Hebrews 13:20 - Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever.
1 Corinthians 12:8-11 - To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
He's not traumatized by my filth and nastiness (for we all have our own flavor of sin):
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Hebrews 4:15-16 - For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are -- yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Isn't it great how everything in life can be a teacher. We just have to see all things through humbleness. We are all as filthy rags in comparison to our Lord Jesus Christ.
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