He Never Stops!
The laundry never ends. I find myself doing several loads a day just to keep up. While Jessie’s mom was here she helped us get our house in order. She cleaned, sanitized, organized everything and never complained. One day I asked her how she does it? How do you keep this house so clean? I feel like I clean all the time but it never looks this good! I’m always behind. She said “I never stop!” She went on to explain that the house is going to get messy again so you always have to be cleaning! You have to get it before it gets you! This woke me up. I don’t know why it took me 33 years to grasp this concept but it did. My entire adult life I’ve been frustrated that the house never stays clean. I clean just for it to need to be cleaned again. It’s like I’ve been expecting it to magically never get dirty. Like if you clean it once you’re done for life, right? No! Wrong!! Very wrong!!!
My mother in law and her life lesson on the art of cleaning got me thinking about our relationship with Jesus. You never can stop. Never stop reading His word. Never stop worshiping Him. Never stop talking to Him. Never stop. The conversation you have with Jesus when you ask Him to come live in your heart is not the last conversation you should have with Him. It’s only the beginning of many conversations. We should never stop talking and listening to God.
To be quite honest for some of us 2020 felt like a never ending laundry pile. Like a dirty house, 2020 was one mess after another. One thing is true, life will never be perfect! The laundry of life will sometimes pile up. God never said it would be easy but when we spend time in His word and in worship and prayer He has a way of showing up and filling our hearts with peace because we ultimately know that He is in control. God has a way of making the never ending laundry pile seem less overwhelming when we chose to continue trusting in him.
Since the departure of my mother in law I have been on my game. Our house will never be on the mother in law level of clean. She is just that good. She has the touch I can only hope to have one day. Nevertheless, I have taken her advice and I clean constantly. I never stop. It doesn’t mean I don’t rest, it just means I’m always aware to clean before it gets out of control. I get it before it gets me. More importantly, I have to get with Jesus before life gets at me. This is a lesson I’m taking with me into 2021. Life really got at me in 2020. Let’s face it. Life got at all of us this past year. And rightfully so. However can we all agree that many of us spent more time complaining about 2020 then we spent talking to God about how we can overcome it. I love all the stories of individuals taking what life has handed them and making it work in their favor. I want to live like that. No matter what 2021 brings, allow God to work it in your favor. It’s true 2020 is a bad word. It’s a real bad word that has made me want to throw things at the wall, crawl into a ball and eat everyone’s candy. … BUT GOD!!! God is still and has always been alive in 2020. He is still working in each of our lives and will continue to work well into 2021 and on. There is something positive that we can take from 2020. Really sit down and think about something good from this past year. What is it for you? This year in 2021 let’s make it a priority to spend more time with God. No matter what 2021 brings let’s face it knowing God has a plan and is working even when we can’t see it we know He is at work and He never stops working in our life. God never stops loving us. He never stops rooting for us. He never stops defending us. He never stops showing up. Even in all the chaos of 2020 God has never stopped showing up and neither should we!
“You are the God of great wonders! You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations.” Psalms 77:14 NLT
I don’t want to leave the impression that I think it’s wrong to acknowledge our grief from this past year. We should grieve all the losses from this year. I just don’t want us to go into 2021 so defeated that we leave no room for God to work. There are amazing things that He has in store for us if we just keep trusting in the one who never stops working.
Shine4Him 