Typically, I don't share alot of my testimony. But of late a particular moment in my life keeps mulling over and over in my mind. I may or may not have already shared this with you but if I have, I feel it bears repeating.
My parents tolerated alot from me during my rebellious teen years, but I respected them enough to at least attempt to hide my acts of rebellion. Now that I'm a parent, I realize that all my attempts were futile since God has ways of exposing all sin -I think it's that whole "eyes in the back of your mom's head" thing.
One particular weekend when I was in my late teens, my parents decided to trust me to stay by myself in the house while they left for the weekend. - that was their first mistake. I decided to invite a "few" friends over - that was my first mistake. What I thought would be an adventure in my new found freedom wound into one of those parties that you only see in a bad movie. You know where flyers with your address get passed around and posted on trees and bulletin boards and before you know it, things are out of control. People I didn't even know brought in things that I wasn't even old enough to buy.
Needless to say the house got seriously trashed and the police brough a halt to my little adventure. A survey of the damage overwhelmed me so I decided to just go to bed and clean it up in the morning. The light of day revealed the mess in its true light so again I postponed the inevitable and went to Denny's, determined to clean it up when I got back.
After breakfast, I came back to find that my parents had "unexpectedly" come home while I was at Denny's. Even as I'm telling you this now I feel the pangs of guilt and embarrassment that I felt that day. My parents were busy cleaning up my mess, not the first and surely not the last. I don't remember what my punishment was but the disappointment I felt coming from them was enough punishment to last me a lifetime.
Recently, there has been such an urgency in my heart to share this with you now because I believe God has brought this back to me for a reason. Matthew chapter 25 has Jesus telling us about ten virgins, five wise and five foolish. They were all waiting for the brideroom but the fooish virgins were not prepared. As they left to buy more oil for their lamps, the bridegroom came and they were not allowed into the wedding. The Lord says, "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the son of Many is coming."
It seems that alot of us have "messes" in our lives that need to be cleaned up before the Father comes home. Don't be caught just going about your business telling yourself "I've got plenty of time to clean it up later." We don't know how much time we have. Ask the Father to reveal any "messes" that you've even forgotten about because you've delayed addressing it for so long. He is faithful and just to clean up our messes if we simply ask Him for help and forgiveness.
A few months ago, when the Lord impressed this memory back to me, I talked to my dad and apologized to him all over again for what I had done that weekend. Thirty some years later I still felt the need to repent. I vividly remember my dad's response to me. He said, "Brenda, I don't remember what you're talking about."
There it is, the perfect picture of Jeremiah 31:34 "...For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
I have just finished reading a book written by a friend of ours in Dallas. She has written a gripping novel about this very subject God has been dealing with me about. Please consider this my encouragement to read this book and share it with a friend.
SO CLOSE, by Paulette Kinkaid can be ordered from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble or go directly to her website a pkincaid.com to order.
My husband preached last week that "the way we exit determines the way we enter." Let's all enter 2011 ready for the Lord!
Cya
Brenda
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