It's When We Notice the Dirt

It is when we notice the dirt that God is most present in us: it is the very sign of His presence. C.S. Lewis

Whenever I notice a stitch or two missing or a stitch in the wrong place, I have to choose to ignore the mistake or go back and fix it.  Sometimes that requires unraveling whole rows of stitches.  There's that God-given desire to want my work to be completely perfect, especially if the project will be a gift - I want it to reflect not just my skill but also a tiny reflection of God's beauty in creation. 

I ask myself, will anyone notice the mistake?  Probably not, but in my heart, I know that I will, and the mistake will annoy me until I decide to take the time to correct it.  That "annoyance" is a gift from God - a sign of His presence - a grace that enables me to transform a flawed piece of work into one that reflects God's beauty and character.   

In the same way, it's when we notice the sin - the dirt - in our lives that God is most present in us.  The ability to see the sin in our lives is His gift to us - it's meant to drive us to Him so that we can receive His forgiveness as well as the grace to return to following Him in love.  God's presence here is not a fault-finding, finger-pointing condemning presence.  It's not a presence that threatens to undo us.  Rather, it's a presence that enables us to keep on picking ourselves up and dusting ourselves off after each and every fall - a presence that gives us a future and a hope.

It's easy to notice the dirt in others, especially since it makes us look better than we really are. Social media provides the perfect platform for fault-finding and finger-pointing and bullying.  But that kind of noticing is far from being a sign of God's presence in our lives.  

The misery of noticing that misplaced or missing stitch can discourage me from completing a project; it can also tempt me to settle for something less than God's best. 

So be glad when your Heavenly Father gives you the gift of noticing the dirt in your life. For, that gift is a sign of His loving presence that leads to the comfort and assurance of belonging to His Son - our faithful Savior Jesus Christ.