Terry and I did a little bathroom redecorating. We found some cute, matching ceramic holders for toothbrushes, cotton balls and Q-Tips for him; the same for me, plus makeup brushes. First of all, let me tell you how much I love HomeGoods. We will go in HomeGoods just to kill time. Almost everything in our kitchen and bathroom is from HomeGoods. I don’t pay full price for things, and HomeGoods offers just about everything I want or need. And no, this is not a sponsored post of any kind.
So the other day I was taking the price stickers off our new holders, most of them had the sticker on the very bottom. But some of them were slapped right on the front or side of the holder and it was beyond irritating, because they didn’t just peel right off. I had to scrape as much as I could, which left a stickiness still, remaining. Terry used WD40 to get the rest of it off, then washed it. I was thinking, “This should be a three second ordeal, and it turned into 25 minutes to get all of these stickers off with WD40, then washing them!” I did not like how much longer I was having to wait to redecorate the bathroom.
But as I washed the last one at the sink with soapy water, I rolled my eyes at myself. We are putting our toothbrushes in these. I am putting my makeup brushes in them, and Q-Tips and the little pads I use with my toner to wash my face. These holders *should* be sterilized and cleaned before I use them! Everybody and their flu germs could have touched these, coughed on these, and sneezed on them. Why on earth would I *not* wash them?
It really hit me how I get easily irritated with God when I do not think He is making these happen, quickly enough. But while I am in a waiting period, it is like God is removing the stickiness slapped on me, and He’s putting something on me to take it all off … but just like the WD40 needed to sink into the holders in order to do its work, God needs to cleanse me on His timetable, too. And it is always for my best.
“He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” - John 15:2-3 (NIV)
When God is pruning us, it is typically a longer process than what we would like … but it is always for the good and for His glory. And then we are already clean because of the word Jesus spoke to us.
Extra time and extra work involved sometimes is irritating, I know. But when the bigger picture is the face of Jesus, the extra work is always worth it.