Sometimes God’s purifying work is harder when it’s a “little sin” rather than a “big” one. Sometimes it feels like we have the major things under control and God starts using his spiritual broom to sweep into the corners to push out the dust bunnies. In God’s kingdom, the dust bunnies are just as contaminating as the obvious sins.
One of the “dust bunny sins” God has been working on me for awhile is my tendency to exaggerate. Oh, I’m not talking about telling how the big fish got away. I’m talking about exaggerating something that makes me look good or makes someone else look bad. It’s more than enlarging a story for humor, but reveals a deep seated control issue. I want to control how someone views me or how they view someone else.
Just the other day, I related the response of someone in an angry tone of voice that exaggerated the way he had said it. It was a good tool for shock value and made the other person look bad. My friend who listened to me said, “Did he say it that way?” I had to back peddle and explain, “Well, no, maybe not quite with that much contempt.”
It was a good wake up call by the Holy Spirit to shine His flashlight on my need to control. It lit up the motives of my heart that reveal a lack of trust in God. If I really trusted God, I could let my “no” be “no” and my “yes” be “yes” without trying to influence the perceptions of the person listening. I could tell the truth in love and trust God for whatever response or ideas He wanted to communicate to the other person.
I know there are a lot more dust bunnies in the corner of my heart. The Holy Spirit, I’m sure, will continue to use His broom of conviction. For me, He has to have a big dust pan!