Clogged Flow
Musings from the Garden
By Peggy Wyar
I had an interesting challenge the other night at my kitchen sink. I was filling up one side of the double sink to wash some dishes in while I began to run the garbage disposal on the other side. Garbage began back flowing into my clean dishwater and then the garbage disposal side began filling and overflowing also. There was a clog somewhere in the pipes below and I had a mess!
As I was scooping dirty water out from both sides of the sink and dumping it into a bucket I was aware of the Holy Spirit directing me to pay attention. After I removed the water, I began trying to clear the pipes with baking soda and white vinegar. I got a lot of bubbling but the clog stayed stuck as I watched the sink fill up again with water.
Time to take the plunge! After plunging a bit the water seemed to trickle down the pipe, but the pipe was definitely not cleared out…yet. I administered more baking soda and white vinegar and rinsed it with boiling hot water. I sadly watched the water in the sink remain in the sink, NOT going down the pipes. I needed a break.
As I sat talking with the Lord and asking what to try next, I began to see a comparison between a clogged sink and a stuck life. We can get stuck in sin, or addiction, or comparisons, or bitterness or any number of ploys that Satan uses to keep us stagnant. As we try to apply scripture or prayer or worship to the problem we may experience a lessening of the clog, but the flow of God’s love through us only trickles out.
I slept and when I awoke in the morning the water in the sink had receded but once I turned on the water again, it showed me the drain was still stuck. Time for the big bottle of drain clog dissolver. I poured a quart of it into the drain and waited an hour and began running hot water…no change. Hmmmm.
Then the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart about expectations. When I do all the right things (read the word, pray, worship, etc.) I expect my circumstances to change for the better immediately. I want the relief that my heart cries out for. I want my prodigals to return home. I want broken friends to receive healing. I want the Church of Christ to be whole and vibrant and pure. But it doesn’t look like it’s happening. However, what does happen is the clog in me is being softened, just as the chemicals were working unseen in my drainpipes.
About 3 hours later I walked into the kitchen. The sink was clear of standing water, and, when I ran the faucet, the drain was clear. Suddenly! The pipes were unstuck!
Suddenly, God moves. Suddenly, healing comes. Suddenly, the prodigal returns.
Maybe it could be said that in a moment things change and life is unstuck. The effort and the prayers and the “doing the right thing” eventually do bear fruit that can be seen. That fruitful change occurs in me as I trust the Lord, as I seek Him first, as I believe He is able to move, and as I worship. When my heart humbly surrenders to God, I am unclogged and His love flows freely. He alone knows when and where and how and why and who and what in every circumstance, so I can refrain from striving in my own strength and, instead, move in sync with Him each day.
Acts 17: 24-28 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’…”
And, in Jesus’ own words:
John 15:4 “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”
I learned something from this minor inconvenience, thanks to the Holy Spirit’s prompting. And I pray we all live and move in Him every day, as we trust Him for keeping the flow of His love unclogged.