The Root of My Rot

Hello Season Sisters!!   I hope your week is going well.  For today's devotion, I wanted to share a message I read last week from Lysa TerKeurst's Blog. Lysa is with Proverb's 31 Ministries, and this devotion really blessed me and stepped ALL OVER MY TOES!!  Ha!  Isn't it ironic that sometimes we need a little "toe stepping" to keep us focused on the Lord and that life is not just about "me". 

Last week I got all twisted up and bent out of shape.  And honey, everyone in my house knew mama wasn’t happy.  I tried everything to usher gentleness back into my tone and my temper. 

I quoted verses. 

I rebuked Satan.

I bossed my feelings around with truth.

I even tried to take a nap.

But none of these activities soothed me. 

Another of my people had done something crazy that ushered a smell into my home that not even 3 Yankee candles would mask. 

And I am super sensitive to smells.  Like hyper crazy sensitive. 
 
I had already dealt with the melted microwave smell  and the little prizes from an untrained puppy smell.  Now, there was this third mysterious, awful smell wafting through my home assaulting my nasal passages.  I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what it was or where it was coming from.

I lit candles, I sprayed stuff, I even covered my nose with the edge of my shirt… but I still smelled it. Finally, I realized my daughter had pulled out a bathroom trashcan with a flip up lid into the middle of my bedroom floor.  She propped the lid open so she could throw away scraps of paper as she worked on a school project.  Something had obviously been thrown away in that forgotten trashcan that was way past gross and into the final stages of rot.

Or, something had crawled up into that can and died.

I didn’t have the heart to find out what it was; I just knew the can had to go.  Immediately. The smell was an outside indication of an internal situation. And the trashcan wasn’t the only thing that stunk that night.  So did my attitude. My reaction was an outside indication of an internal situation.

The reason I couldn’t be soothed with Scripture verses, bossing my feelings, rebuking Satan or even a nap is because God wanted me to be aware of my stink… something inside of me that was gross… a place starting to rot. 

He didn’t want me to temporarily mask the situation by feeling better in the moment. He wanted me to address the root of my rot.

God wanted me to see it- admit it- expose it- bring it out- let Him clean it up and shut it down.  Immediately.
A little rot can spread fast and furious if not dealt with swiftly and seriously. 

That’s why it’s so crucial to pay attention to our reactions today.  How we react is such a crucial gauge on what’s really going on inside us.  When people or issues or situations bump into our happy it’s not wrong to feel annoyed.  But if that annoyance leads to a reaction out of proportion to the issue at hand… we can bank on the fact this eruption has a root of rot.

Here are some tell tale signs of roots of rot:

• I throw out statements like, “You always…  You never… Why can’t we ever…”

• I start gathering ammunition from past situations to build my case.

• I use words and a tone outside my normal character. 

• I justify my reaction by illuminating how hard my life is right now.

• I demand an apology all the while knowing I should be giving one.

These are not fun to admit, but here’s the beauty of the situation.  The quicker we see a root of rot, the quicker we can get rid of the stink and move forward. 

I’m challenging myself to keep a pulse on my level of spiritual maturity right now, not on how many Bible verses I’ve memorized or how many times I’ve done my quiet time this week.  Rather, how I’m reacting… how quickly I’m apologizing… and how readily I admit and take ownership of my own stink.

Blog Today by:  Lysa TerKeurst, who is a New York Times Best Selling author and speaker who helps everyday women live an adventure of faith through following Jesus Christ. As president of Proverbs 31 Ministries, Lysa has led thousands to make their walk with God an invigorating journey.