Stench

Last week there was a smell that filled the house up.  We took out the trash, I ran the garbage disposal, lit a candle and to no avail; the stench was still there. It was driving me crazy as I like to keep a clean house. Finally laundry day came around and as I went to put my first load in I realized there was a tiny little washcloth that had been sitting in the washer after I had cleaned up a messy counter in the beginning of the week.  That my friends, was the source of the smell.  Such a tiny little object filled the house all the way to the upstairs with a funky aroma.  I was relieved to find the source and then I started thinking about it a little more and as the weekend went on I found more lessons in this washcloth than just "don't leave a dirty one in the washer".  As Christians we sometimes hold on to something little, a little sin that we think "eh it wont be that big of a deal, just tuck it away and no one will know" those seemingly little things often cause the biggest stench in our lives.  They eat away and weaken our souls, causing a 'stench' in the way we live our lives.  Everything is effected by it.  

These weaknesses need to be addressed.  Its so easy to push them aside in embarrassment, shame and or the selfishness of not wanting to let it go. But, what we don't realize is that when we give up these weaknesses and let God take care of them He will use them to better us and most of all to glorify Him. 

Hebrews 12:1  (ESV)

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

2 Corinthians 12:9-11 (ESV)

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Whats causing a stench in your life? Is there something that you need to confess and get rid of to get a breath of fresh air?