Sty

I have a sty. Do you know what those are? It's like a big ole zit on your eyelid. Except unlike zits, there's no pore that you can just pop it. They look like a zit, but they're worse. Mine's right under my left eye. If you read about it online, they'll tell you that they should go away in about 48 hours. Ha! Mine's going on over 4 weeks now.

Just look at that nasty thing! 

When I first got it, I worked really hard at getting it to go away. Nothing helped. So after about 2 weeks, I popped it on my own. Yes, I know they tell you not to, but I'm not dropping a bunch of money on a doctor's visit just to pop it! :) So it popped...but didn't completely go away. It got better, but it's definitely still there.

And so, over a month later...I was poking away at it with my usual tools this morning and I was thinking to myself. "This would be a great blogpost topic!" Are you curious why??--Read on! :)

This sty is a little annoyance in my life. A minor imperfection on my face. But yet, when I have time in the morning or night, I am very diligent and faithful in doing anything I can to go away. The main treatments include...laying on the couch with a warm washcloth over my eye. I think this is supposed to help with the swelling and just soften it up.

For a while that really did help, but after 10 days past the suggested time of disappearance, I decided more drastic measures were needed. Plan B: Have you ever poked your skin--especially sensitive skin by your eye with a safety pin? It's paaaainful. But I continue to do it because I want that thing gone and I will do whatever it takes! I've also spent plenty of time staring that thing down in the mirror--just examining it and trying to figure out how to make it go away.

Okay, okay--don't stop reading! I'm not just gonna keep going on about my sty. I want to make the connection now to sin in my life. What if I was as diligent about removing an actual imperfection from my life? What if I did whatever I could day in and day out to keep myself from going down the wrong path? Am I willing to go through pain--physical or emotional--to get rid of every bit of sin? Am I taking time to "soak my heart" with Jesus? Am I taking time to really examine myself and ask for the Holy Spirit's conviction? These are the questions that came to me while poking at and staring down my sty this morning. :)

Please don't misread me--I know that it is by God's grace that we are cleansed from sin and it's not on our own works. But Phil. 2:13 tells us that "God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him." He is the One who is making it even possible for us to have both the ability and the desire to remove sins from our life. But are we doing what the verse just before commands? "Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear." 

That's the tough part, huh? God is giving us the desire and power to please Him, but He expects us to do our part, too. He didn't make us into robots who have no choice but to do what He wants. He gave us choices. He wants us to choose to obey Him out of reverence and fear. Jesus also says "If you love me, you will obey my commands." He also wants us to choose to obey His commands, because we love Him.

I want to be someone who, the moment I am convicted of a minor annoyance or imperfection in my life, I immediately step up and do whatever is necessary to get rid of that from my life--no matter how painful. I don't want to be a woman of compromise--saying that I'll get around to that when I have more time or saying that it's not that big of a deal or even comparing myself to others and thinking "Well at least I don't do that!" I want to be someone who will spend hours in front of the "mirror"--examining myself and trying to figure out the root of the problem and how it will go away. I want to be someone who will sit quietly, soaking in Jesus' presence as He softens my heart and brings me to true repentance--a wholehearted choice to step off the wrong path and come back to the straight and narrow. The path of choosing to love Him.

My encouragement for you as you start this new week is that you take time to sit in front of the "mirror" and examine yourself. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you your "sty" and thank God for giving you the desire and power to do whatever it takes to remove these completely from your life. Ask Him to help you make a wholehearted choice to work hard at staying on the straight and narrow path of loving Him.