Have you ever baked a casserole, then found the empty pan to be almost ruined from the residual food that is seemingly embedded into the sides of your pan?? Who hasn’t?! But it was this mental picture that The Lord used to remind me of something:
“What do you do when this happens?”, He asked. “I soak it in water for how ever LONG it takes!”, was my reply. “Me too”, He said with an indelible wink in my heart, “Me too”.
🙂 I love Him. I love how His lessons are so simple, yet so profound.
“That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.” Ephesians 5:26 KJV
When life’s heat bakes a mess inside of you, you may feel ruined–like nothing will ever get all of that junk off of the walls of your soul. But He can, and He will, if you’ll let Him. He will draw you, fill you with the Water of His Word, and soak you there–for as LONG as it takes to wash you free from the pain.
Yes, just like my casserole pan, He patiently works with us as He scrapes just enough to remove that first layer that has softened in the Water in order to expose that next layer of hard-baked gunk. It is as if you can hear Him say, “Soak a little longer dear one, I see progress. You’re not free of it all yet–but you’re getting there.”
Time passes, here comes a new scrape, and more stuff is freshly exposed. Over and over He continues. Don’t be surprised by that fiery trial that comes–for that’s when He’s down to the stubbornness of that staining stronghold. Now fully penetrated by the Water, He can safely turn up the heat. As every seasoned pot-washer knows, a little heat helps that lingering stubborn crust and stain fully release. 😉
So wherever you are in this process: REST. Soak in the Water of The Word while you wait for the Master to finish His work. You’re in GOOD HANDS. 🙂
