Spiritual Draino?

Tonight's thought might be a little gross, a whole lot of random, but definitely honest.  It's a work in progress as I am most definitely a work in progress.  Thankfully I think we all are so I won't feel too bad about myself.

So by now you're probably asking why the nasty picture.  Well it's my illustration.  In the past I've used cute father/son tandem bike rides and others nicer images, but tonight this is the image that I feel to share about.

Let me start with this.  I AM NOT a plumber.  Not even close, but recently I had to play that role as our bathroom sink was not draining.  In the past I would get a bottle of Drano and would let it work it's magic.  During this last blockage I did not have access to the store and felt a little inspired to be manly and fix this problem without the help of my magic helper so I took the pipes under the sink off with enough faith to believe that God would give the wisdom to know how to put it all back together without extra parts. Thankfully He did.  What I found once I took things apart was a bit surprising to me though.  I'm not sure what I expected to see that was clogging the pipes, but as you can see it was not pretty.  After a number of months the piped in our sink became clogged with long hair from people bruising their hair and it fell in the sink.  Also there was stubble from me shaving and this was caked together with probably a combination of washed off make up and toothpaste and other objects that seem to have been dropped and fell in the drain.  None of this is necessarily a bad thing or intentionally destructive thing, but over time and piled on top of each other they formed a fairly solid wall and blockage for the drain of our bathroom sink that even water could not penetrate.

Here's my point:  I wonder how easy it is or how quickly we allow these "blockages" to happen in our spiritual walk?  We fill our lives.  We fill our lives with "not bad" things.  Our lives get clogged and then things pile up and we can become overwhelmed as our sink fills up and potentially overflows.  Much like my example what piles up can be not bad things in and of themselves, but is it possible that they can create a spiritual blockage of sorts?  Not to say that God can't get to us anytime, but can I have times where I feel spiritually clogged or blocked up and disconnected from God because of the things I allow to consume my time, my thoughts, my finances, my emotions, etc???

One of my favourite verses in Scripture is James 1:27.  It says this:
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself to be polluted from the world."

Hmmm? Pollutants?
We treat being busy like a badge of honour, but can it be a pollutant that creates a blockage between us and God?
Money.  Not evil in and of itself, but do we allow it to create a blockage between us and God?
Our relationships.  Good things that are blessings in our lives, but put on the pedestal that belongs to God even the most beloved people in our lives can be blockages between us and God.
Our past.  Technology.  People's opinions and the list can go on and on... What things are we allowing to be pollutants in our lives and creating those times where we know God is with us, but we just can't seem to feel in the flow with our Heavenly Father?

Let me encourage you (and me) with this.  If you're in a place where the pipe seem to be clogged spiritually and the only way you can explain your relationship with God is that there seems to be a "blockage" between you and Him, address it.  Don't let it get worse and worse.  Trust me, it will be messier in the long run as we allow more crud to get in.

Allow your praise to press in hard and push that "blockage" on it's way as God's spirit flows.  Get in God's Word even though you don't understand what you read and you always seem to be met with resistance.  STOP and make time to be quiet in God's presence to listen.  Sometimes it takes more effort and we must push through  like that magical elixir, Drano.

Then there are other times when you just need to take things apart, clean and dig the junk out and reset.

This feels like that scripture in Proverbs that speaks to "iron sharpening iron".  Step back.  Address the issue, fix it (or work the process with God and other believers) and dig it out.  Get the mess out and then put it back together.

Life can be messy.  That's OK.  I have to believe that Jesus is not afraid of the mess.  He touched the leper, played in the mud to heal the blind and laid down His life on the cross for us.  He's not overwhelmed by our messes even if they've collected for a bit and clogged some drains.  Seek Him and get things clear from the inside out today.