As many know, Wednesdays are all about confessions for me and this one is no different---because I’m dealing with sin, I’m just not sure which one it is. Wonder what the root sin of preoccupation with self, ungrateful spirit, pride, lack of contentment or fear is? Is there one “biggie” for all of these ugly manifestations?
It’s all about lips you see. Mainly mine. Last week I saw two beautiful HHS girls driving by with their lips wrapped around a cigarette and I just wanted to scream out at them----WARNING!! Both your lungs and your lips are at risk. Your young, full, beautiful, laughing lips. Mine aren’t so beautiful----I know…. they are so much better than anyone thought they would be. I also know that I avoid mirrors lately because they remind me of how I really look. A gal who always depended on her smile to get her through life can be a little disheartened when her drooping/stroke-like lips make her want to cover up her new whoppy-jawed weird smile. Yes, I know I smile with my eyes. Yes, I know all the kind words that folks say---what else can one say without being cruel? I know all these things and yet I still struggle with----what is it I struggle with? Self-pity, pride, discontent. Sin---that’s it plain and simple---my focus has wandered again. My remedy: His Word.
Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean, scrub me and I'll have a snow-white life. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing. Don't look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don't throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails! Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home. Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I'll sing anthems to your life-giving ways. Unbutton my lips, dear God; I'll let loose with your praise.
(Psalm 51:7, The Message)
