Have you ever had something that you know you need to do...but you don’t? You’re supposed to. You’ve been told you need to, but you’re not sure you know how to do it. You think it’s going to be more labor intensive than you have the skill for. It’s going to take more time than you want to give it. There are all sorts of reasons/excuses…so you just keep putting it off. You just keep ignoring it until finally there’s a problem and then it has to be dealt with, sometimes on an emergency basis.
Just recently I’ve realized that I’ve been putting something off…for about five years, but I decided it was time to deal with it. Now, this “thing” I had to deal with was nothing sinister or dark. Looking back on it now, it’s really rather silly that I had such hesitancy about it. After all, what it is I’m referring to is simply cleaning the filters in our dishwasher.
Five and a half years ago, when we moved into our home in Mitchell, the first appliance that started giving us trouble was the dishwasher. A new one was installed and in reading through the manual that came with it were the instructions that the filters should be cleaned every couple of months. My thought was, OK I’ll look into it and keep that in mind. Of course, I heard horror stories from other people about cleaning and replacing filters in various appliances and how difficult it was, so I kept putting off doing that needed task. Then two months turned into six months, which turned into a year, then two years, then three, and finally…five years later I decided to tackle the job since our dishwasher wasn’t doing it’s work as effectively as it had previously.
Nancy found the manual for me. I read the directions, studied the diagrams, and located the filters in the actual dishwasher. I discovered that I was making some assumptions about the task that weren’t even true. I thought I’d have to take off various parts and the spray arm, etc. I didn’t. I turned the one filter as directed and it came loose and was easily removed. The other filter required a slight upward pull and it popped right out. Well, that wasn’t so bad!! So, Nancy cleaned the filters and I cleaned the housing the filters fit into. And the filters went back in place almost as easily as they came out. We both decided we won’t wait five more years to do this cleaning again.
This experience reminded me of what I believe can sometimes happen in our spiritual life too. We know there is something we need to do. We really intend to do it more regularly. We understand the benefits of doing it. But…..we think it’s going to be harder than we had anticipated. We’ve heard other people’s “horror” stories. So, we don’t pray, read the bible, attend worship, ask for forgiveness, extend grace and forgiveness to others, volunteer our time and energy in a ministry that interests us, give of our resources to make a difference, do some reading on spirituality and growing in our faith, invite someone to church with us, participate in a small group, think positive thoughts about others rather than negative ones, ask “what love requires of me” in a situation, pause to give thanks and praise to God, and this list could go on and on.
However, what I have discovered is that generally when I do any of the things I’ve listed above, almost always it’s never as difficult, bad, or costly as what I had anticipated. And the truth is, I generally feel so much better after having accomplished what I had been avoiding. I’m not saying everything was easy, but it was important and beneficial for my own well-being and faith journey. So, my question to myself and all of us today is… What are you putting off? Why are you avoiding that particular activity or situation? You know, chances are it won’t be as bad as you are imagining!! Go ahead…take a step of faith. There are benefits to be gained and growth in your walk with God awaiting you.
Serving Together,
Pastor Keith