September 28, 2015
Around my house, we typically wash clothes on the weekend. We have three boys (12, 13, and 15) who still live at home, and they wash their own clothes, so our washing machine is basically working all weekend. As I listened to the “chug chug chug” of our washing machine this weekend I thought about how it is parallel to washing away all of those things in our lives that hold us back from reaching our fullest potential, living in our purpose and prospering in our passion. What if we learned when it was time to clean our “soiled souls?”
“Soiled Souls”
When was the last time you washed your laundry?
When was the last time you washed away the “dirt” from your life?
Hmmmm…
Each week I wash about 4 loads of dirty clothes, but I really cannot tell you the last time I cleansed my soul.
I cannot tell you the last time I removed all of the negative toxins that may have invaded my life, and I don’t know when I actually separated my life into “piles” to determine what is“clean” and what is “dirty.”
Hmmmm…
When will we release those toxins that paralyze our hopes and cause us to question our faith?
When will we use bleach to sanitize the dirty imprints left behind by the devil’s work?
And when will we know when it is our turn to do the laundry?
Hmmmm…
We will know when we can’t feel the spirit of God in everything that we do.
We will know when we start to wonder if God is really listening to our prayers.
We will know when we think that God has “given up” on us because our dreams are not coming true.
We will know when we have hit “rock bottom” and can’t seem to find the strength to pull ourselves up.
We will know when we recognize that our circle of friends and family do not support us when we need them the most.
And we will know when we feel like we are just “missing something” in our daily lives.
Yes, all of these are signs that it is time to do our laundry…Time to clean our “soiled souls” so we can heal and move towards positive change in our lives.
A “soiled soul” needs cleansing just as a body need washing.
We need to remove the discoloration of our vision, tainted dreams, and stained hearts.
We need to add the detergent of “Prayer” to cleanse them and prepare them for use again.
And we need to double up on the “Rinse” cycle to ensure that the heartache and pain are washed away permanently.
I learned how to wash my clothes at the tender age of 10 years old…I used to fill my shopping cart with bags full of dirty clothes and walk several blocks to the laundrymat to make sure that all of our clothes were clean each week.
I remember being so proud of the job that was assigned to me and feeling so good when I was able to put on clean clothes daily.
Hmmmm…
Now I have to recapture those feelings of pride and happiness when I wash the negativity of my life away. I need to fill up my shopping cart with heartache, pain, dishonorable people, toxic people and “purpose-less” things in my life and drag them to the laundrymat to wash them away too.
I need them to be rinsed away so that my “soiled soul” can be cleansed, healed and inspired to love again.
Inspired to heal again.
Inspired to believe again.
And inspired to lean of my triple shields of grace, faith and mercy again.
Yes, it’s time to do my laundry! It’s laundry day for me!
Sooo, what day are you going to do your laundry?
