Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word. He did this to present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless. – Ephesians 5:25-27 (HCSB)
I’ve entered a new stage of adulthood this morning. I actually found myself ironing a T-shirt. This is not something I’ve ever done. In my pre-Jesus state, I was more of a wild, rebellious thing who loved throwing on her heavy metal combat boots with jeans and donning an old, wrinkly, concert T-shirt under her official Seattle-band flannel overshirt. But now, here I am, ironing a painfully pastel, mint green T-shirt with the word “Undone” branded across me like a banner of truth in a joke that no one really gets the depths of but me!
As I chuckle to myself about the “irony” of this whole ordeal (sorry…pun intended), I find myself drifting to a place of reflection with the Lord. I’m thinking about all the changes that have taken place in my life to make me this new person who loves God and irons T-shirts. This is when God began to speak to me about this T-shirt that looks like it has really been put through the wringer. It was watered-down and agitated in the washer, then tossed into a place of extreme heat; and when it came out of the dryer, it looked like a worn, wrinkled mess!
I could have gone on and left this shirt as it was, but as its owner, I decided not to…The same way our Father decides not to leave us that way. I took the garment out and laid it gently across the ironing board. At first, I gently smoothed out the surface wrinkles with my hand. Then, the time was right to apply the heat. With just a bit of gentle pressure and with enough heat to iron out the wrinkles but to not ruin the material, I smoothed away all those rough spots. I pressed out all the deep crevasses…even the spots one may think would be too deep to iron out became smooth because I didn’t give up on it. I just kept pressing in, with just the right amount of heat and pressure.
I just love how God uses the simple things in life to remind us of the gentle and perfect way that He works with us, and I’m so glad He didn’t leave me wrinkled and worn! It may not always be an easy ride. There are most definitely times of intense heat and pressure, but I know it all produces something amazing in the end because His never-failing love is set to permanent press and, daily, He applies just the right amount of pressure and heat to fully restore the beautiful fabric of our lives.
With that, I simply close by encouraging you to allow yourself to press in deep with Him today!
220 Gal 