2006-10-16 - Faith in the Laundry Room

It takes faith and reckless abandon to do laundry. Faith to put in articles whose tags say dry clean only, or to add soiled clothes without any stain remover. There's no turning back now. The lever has been set: cold water, large load. A swish sound starts and is reminiscent of the ocean. Then the washer chooses a moment of silence, similar to what happens when we await with anticipation for our faith to manifest.

2 Corinthians 5:7 declares: "For we walk by faith, not by sight." (NKJV)

Faith is a decision; it's believing in something you don't see but know to be true. You can't be easily swayed or wishy-washy when you are a hopeful believer. It doesn't help to stop believing when what you've staked your faith in hasn't come to pass yet. I could have taken a peek in the middle of the washing cycle, to check the condition of the clothes, just for curiosity sake. But I didn't. As soon as I grabbed the lid, I would have stopped my faith, even if temporarily.

Reckless faith isn't to be taken lightly, and I don't recommend not following directions when it comes to laundry. Not taking the items to the dry cleaner and not purchasing a stain remover was not an intentional turn to faith. It started out as laziness and an attempt at frugality. As the time passed, my faith grew; I was excited to see how the clothes would turn out.

The moment of truth had arrived. Some of the stains remained; others disappeared. A number of items destined for the dry cleaners turned out beautifully. Others, well, their tags didn't lie. My objective wasn't to waste clothes to gain rags. It was a lesson learned. I'm glad I took the chance. It gave me time to develop my faith skills. Will I add stain remover to my shopping list? Only if I find a coupon. The frugality in me hasn't changed, yet.

Life is more than clothes. So what happens outside the laundry room when I need to exercise my faith muscles in a more difficult situation, like deciding on what job to take or praying for a family member's health. What then? I can rely on the description of faith found in Hebrews 11:1. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (NJKV)

Lord, Show me where I need reckless faith. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Lisa

lisa@cfdevotionals.org
http://www.cfdevotionals.org