I got a funny picture today about growing as a Christian. I was asking God to purify my heart, show me where there was sin that needed to be rooted out, and also by the way, to help me to LET Him do that! So clean me up and let me have the faith to allow it to happen.
I saw a baby getting it's diaper changed. Sometimes babies don't want to be changed. Maybe it's because they don't know they need to be changed, and they have more fun things they want to do! You can (and sometimes you MUST) wrestle them down and do it anyway, but it's hard and sometimes messy. They cry and fight, and it takes a lot longer.
Sometimes they have been in the diaper WAY too long and they are sore and smelly! It hurts even to be touched. But because you love them, and you know it has to be done, you do it despite the smell. You have to be very gentle, and use a little desitin or A & D ointment to soothe and protect the tender areas. As they grow they find out that your intent is not to trap them or hurt them, and they trust you enough to lie quietly and let you clean them up.
I think God wants me to know that just as I minister to babies He wants me to trust Him to clean me up, soothe and protect my tender areas (hurts from my sin and from others) and make me fresh and clean again, so I can be free to explore the world and live the life He created me for.
