Create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. ~Psalm 51:10 CSB

Clean up hurts sometimes.

One weekend, as we entered the sixth year of building our home, I removed nails from tongue-and-groove boards we had salvaged from an old church. After the nails were gone, I began the cleanup by running the boards through the planer. Thick layers of varnish and fifty-year-old paint peeled off, revealing the beautiful pine underneath.

As I stuck the last board in the spinning wheels of the planer, my thumb caught a large splinter sticking out of the side of the wood. It sliced my skin and left a long sliver stuck inside my thumb. I let the board finish planing and went inside to clean and sanitize my new wound.

When the soap hit the hole, the pain showed up. My knee-jerk response was to quit washing it and make the pain stop, but then the reality of infection came to mind. If I didn’t thoroughly wash this wound and make sure the whole splinter was out, I risked my skin growing around this foreign object and my hand reaping the consequences, instead of just this little spot.

Cleaning up this wood is a huge task. Removing layers of paint and varnish to restore the wood to its natural beauty is time-consuming. After pulling the nails, we plane the wood, then begin the sanding. All edges where paint was lathered must receive proper attention. I’ve had several injuries in the clean-up process—splinters, smashed fingers, bruises, bumps on the head, nail pokes, squished toes—but every painful piece was worth it once I saw the wood on the ceiling in our new house.

Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds. ~Hosea 6:1 NLT

The restoration process in a believer’s life is also a huge task. Removing layers of hurt, shame, pain, and guilt to reveal our true heart of Christ-given beauty is tough. We must sand our rough, protective edges with forgiveness and repentance. Other stuff gunks up the edges too—bitterness, loneliness, rejection, grief—which makes sanding more difficult at times.

The pain of this process is intense, often leading to a job change, the loss of friendships, or the eradication of a habit or bad behavior. But once we deal with the painful parts, we experience hope, joy, peace, love, acceptance, and redemption. No more deep splinters of sin creating infection, but instead, washed out wounds, healed back to wholeness through the powerful grace of Jesus.

When you feel that nudge to start peeling back the layers, it can feel as if falling apart is imminent. Are you worried about what you will lose? Don’t be afraid. The pain is temporary, but the freedom Jesus can help you walk in, if you let Him do the cleaning up, is worth every ounce of pain. Do it before the infection gets too deep.

Think of areas in your life that need cleaning up.

Father God, please show me the infected places in my life. Give me the willingness to do the hard work and clean up the sin that has made the infection fester. Restore me to full spiritual health. In Jesus’s name, amen.

Genre: Non-fiction

Copyright 2022: Clean Up Hurts: Christy Bass Adams: All Rights Reserved