Soaking

I have a confession to make: I’m not the greatest house keeper. Oh, my place is neat enough, and you could eat off the floors if you wanted to—I know our dog does all the time—but it’s not exactly a spotless’ germ-free environment.

Case in point: the build up around my bathroom faucets. Over the years I have tried just about every cleaning product on the market but no matter what their claims, they have not eliminated the problem. Recently a house guest, as a parting gift, scrubbed my bathroom from stem to stern but even she (rubber gloves, mask, chemicals and all), could not conquer the problem.

Enter a Facebook video about the latest marvel cleaner: vinegar.

Let’s be clear, I had tried vinegar. Vinegar and baking soda, vinegar and everything, all with unsatisfactory. This video suggested, however, rather than scrubbing my hands raw with the stuff, I simply soak a rag, wrap it around the taps and leave it.

I could do that.

It took longer than the 30 minutes the video suggested but Ta-Da!

It worked!

I have delightedly attacked numerous other problem areas with my vinegar-soaked rag and patience and the results have been, well, much as I hate this word, phenomenal.

Which got me wondering if my vinegar rag has a spiritual parallel.

I’m stretching this, I know, but I have found there are times in my life, when I’ve tried everything I can think of and the problems I face still seem unsolvable. The only option I seem to have left is to soak in the Word. Even though I’m too discouraged to read my Bible or pray, I will surround myself with Christian music.

God worshipping songs and hymns of praise.

Before I know it, their lyrics are running through my mind, an unending melody of prayer, soaking into my soul, lifting the embedded pain and discouragement I feel until God just wipes it away.

Like I did with the grime in my now-spotless bathroom.

It’s not an instant fix but it is thorough, God breathed, from the gracious, patient hand of the Eternal One.

Praise His name.

How about you? How do you handle the discouragement and grime in your life?

Jayne E. Self is unraveling the mysteries of cleaning when she's not writing mysteries of her own. Visit her at jayneself.com and Facebook.