Wet Paint
by Paul Lawrence
I had an Adam and Eve moment last week. I arrived at Ellel Grange and put my briefcase and coat down and decided to wander around the building to say hello to the team and prepare for the day ahead.
Part of my walk took me into an area that was being renovated and painted. It looked great. New paint on the walls and all the doors and skirting boards had been freshly painted. And there were a few signs around that said, “wet paint”.
The temptation was too great and I touched the woodwork to see if the the sign was true! Have you ever done that? There on my finger was this brown wood stain, the sign was true!!
Feeling a little silly I decided to try to hide the stain by rubbing my fingers together to get rid of it. Needless to say that the problem spread. Now everyone who looked at my hands would definitely know that I had touched the wood and ignored the signs.
Suddenly this “sin” was growing and I could not hide it. Instead of going straight to the bathroom to get it cleaned I had tried to cover it up and solve the problem myself and not rely on the cleaning agent that could have cleaned my fingers straight away. I then walked around all day with the feeling of this paint on my fingers and even when it had worn off it still did not feel clean.
As you read this the question is are you touching any wet paint and trying to hide it from the Lord? He is the one who washes us by His blood and cleanses us. When we try to hide the paint it just gets worse and we know in our hearts that it is still there.
By hiding the paint we can carry around guilt, shame and self condemnation. The problem is that our pride can stand in the way of dealing with the problem. The longer it goes on, the harder it is to deal with, and the bigger the mess. `Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy` (Proverbs 28:13).
Have you walked into a building site that you should not be in and seen the wet paint sign and touched it? Have you hidden the results of the paint? If so it needs to be dealt with before the Lord now.
Prayer: Lord, thank You that I can come before You with all the "wet paint" items I have touched. I lay them at Your feet and thank You that You do cleanse me from all my sins, in Jesus` name.
Paul Lawrence is the Centre Director at Ellel Grange, UK and is married to Anne, who is the Deputy Centre Director for the Grange. He has lived in Africa for over 20 years and China for 5 years. His passion is to see the Lord do bigger and greater things in peoples lives that they cannot do on their own, not just in healings but also in the fun things of life. His belief is that nothing is ever big enough and as a team we can achieve anything if the Lord is at the centre.
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