By Jeff Miller
Pam and I own a small but nice home that is perfect for us. My bride has it set up and decorated nicely. We keep it well cared for and clean. Then one day recently we had a surprise as we looked out our back window and watched a skunk squeeze through a small hole that leads under our patio. We had never seen the hole before. We were less than enthused to know that Pepe le Pew had taken up residence with us. We called our friendly neighborhood pest control expert and live traps were set. In a three-night period we caught a rabbit, a possum, and a skunk (in that order). Who knew that we had so many ‘friends’ living among us?!
As I think about Dependence where we posture ourselves appropriately as desperately dependent upon the Spirit, I think that there is a lesson to be learned from the presence of unwanted guests. Sometimes smelly rodents can quietly take up residence in our lives. They can be silent, sly, subtle, largely unnoticed at first. They slink around in the dark. They may even look rather cute and harmless. However, they can do a lot of damage. I am referring to small compromises that blossom into something ugly. I am referring to habits and behaviors that may not seem like a big deal at first but burrow down deep into our souls and then multiply. I am referring to chinks in the armor of our lives that let the enemy of our souls slide in and begin to spread.
Our lives are to be the clean residence of the divine presence of the Spirit. We should all pause from time to time to assess if there are unwanted influences and patterns of life that have infiltrated and therefore hinder our life in the Spirit.
There is another thing that we shouldn’t miss here. After the rodents were trapped and removed the job was not yet done. On a roasting hot summer day, I dug all around our patio and anchored in some wire fencing to keep future visitors out. It is not enough to get rid of the old bad; we must build up healthy barriers to keep the future bad out.
So, in your own life, have small holes appeared around your foundation that can become access points for unwanted, unhealthy guests who want to undermine your journey with Jesus? We need to identify the holes. What are the small, often hidden, doorways that allow admission into our daily lives?
In the venture of Dependence upon the Holy Spirit we need to look for unwise, dangerous, sometimes unintended access points. We need to remove the unwanted residents (habits, practices, attitudes) that are undermining our foundation. And we need to build barriers in our lives to stave off future spiritual rodents from returning and gaining access once again. The Spirit is eager to work with us to accomplish this.
Meanwhile at the Miller manse we can take a deep breath knowing that Mr. Skunk is no longer loitering just beneath us.