Smudges on our souls

My whole world has titled off its axis just a bit since yesterday.

Why, you might ask?

It’s because I washed all my windows.

In Chicago we've had some unusually mild weather so, before the blizzards blow, I took advantage of the warm days and cleaned all the windows inside and out.

A clarity has been added. Gone are the smudges, the built up dirt that distorted the view as I looked outside. The light in my house is now brighter, clearer and it changes what I see and how I feel.

Life is messy.

We get smudges on our souls and the dirt of discontent builds up on our spirits; but then God provides agents to wash it away. It may be a song, a sermon, a conference, a comment, a catastrophe, or a circumstance and suddenly we see life more clearly and it changes everything.

Matthew West sings in My Own Little World about his small safe world with "population: me” until he sees a homeless widow and now his world consists of two. What would we see if our eyes were opened?

May God clean the smudges off our souls so that we can clearly see what is around us. Each of our lives are different, perhaps this is the time to focus on a spouse, a job, a neighbor, children, ministry, or the world outside one’s comfort zone but, no matter what we will see, may God gently clean the dirt from our hearts so that we can.