Reading: Romans 7:14-25
Scripture tells us that Satan prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Sometimes I feel like I set a full course meal for him and become his waiter serving more and more up for his enjoyment. The other night our house became the restaurant in which he dined. Mainly because of me and my constant fight against controlling my temper. My husband and I (well, mostly I) began an argument early in the afternoon and it seems that throughout the evening the spirit of the argument continued. As the Holy Spirit continued to nudge me from within my heart, I would become overwhelmed with the desire to do what was right. Yet, I continued, knowing full well throughout that I needed to stop.The next day I struggled with the guilt of grieving the Holy Spirit. The words of Paul from Romans 7:14-25 continued to run through my mind “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out . . .” I was sitting in the grief of sin and feeling weak from the fight. I felt the heaviness of the struggle that Paul felt as he wrote these words. And this burden stayed until the Holy Spirit spoke to me mid-afternoon. I was folding clothes in my bedroom and began to hang up my husband's shirts. That is when the Holy Spirit told me, “I want you to iron those shirts.” So without delay I got out the ironing board and iron to begin ironing the shirts. I know there are some of you out there that know my lack of desire to iron and you are totally shocked at this moment. For those of you who are not, let me explain a bit. I totally despise ironing. It is a duty that I reserve for special occasions – Easter, Christmas, weddings, funerals and other selective events. I have the feeling that I am not alone, especially with today's market of wrinkle free material and dryers with permanent press settings. This leads me to believe that there are many of my kind out there. Ironing is the last thing I would think of doing on a regular afternoon. Yet, the Holy Spirit wanted to teach me a lesson with every stroke of the iron. So as I began to iron one shirt after the other He spoke to my heart a lesson of submission.
The ironing of my husbands shirts had a sole purpose of teaching me to practice submission. This focus is not on wives submitting to their husbands – for my husband could care less as to whether his shirts were ironed or not. The focus was on the practicing. As Christians we are to submit to one another (Ephesians 5:20-21). This is to be done for the benefit of each other out of reverence to Christ. However, my practicing of such actions in my household left a lot to be desired for the things I would submit to doing would be things that benefit me also – not them solely. I would clean the house because it made me feel better. I would fix dinner because, well, I wanted to eat. Ironing my husbands shirts brought no benefit for myself only self-sacrifice to perform an act that would benefit him. It became more of a realization to me that this is the way I was treating my relationship with God. The Holy Spirit was showing me that I needed to tune in to Him and practice submitting to His Spirit in all things, regardless – like obeying His command to iron even though I didn't like it and even though it didn't benefit me directly. This type of practicing would train me for the times when I am struggling greatly with sin. When those times arise, I can fall into automatic pilot of submission to Him. Overall, as an end result, the act of grieving the Holy Spirit will not need to be committed because I will be submitting to Him and allowing Him to be in control. Ultimately bringing benefit and glory to Him.
Are you struggling with sin in your life? Do you feel guilty about grieving the Holy Spirit through the loss of the fight with the roaring lion? There is one thing for certain – just like the next load of laundry brings on more ironing so does each day bring on more struggling with sin. As we continue to struggle, it is important for us to practice submitting to the Holy Spirit. By submission to His Spirit, we will be able to overcome and disappoint the lion as he comes our way seeking for a meal.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, the struggle of my sinful nature is strong within me. My heart aches when I sin against You and grieve Your Spirit. I am weak in the fight. I cannot fight this roaring lion who roams the earth, but You can. Help me to practice submitting to You so that when I am in the midst of a face off with the lion I will be able to go into auto pilot and let You control the fight. Thank You for Jesus, Who has won the fight against sin. Through Him I am victorious. Amen.
