Oh .... Those chickens

If you know me…..you know that I have a crazy fear of chickens.  You know.... that kind of fear that makes your heart start beating really fast when one is near you.  Heaven forbid they take a step your way or look at you with those beady eyes. Yes, I am that person that would not go into the petting zoo with my kids if there was a chicken around.  Seriously you can’t trust those vicious animals.  I know that most people think this is crazy but it's something that is just there for me.  There is nothing that you can do to change it…or is there.

 

About eight months ago my oldest child got this crazy idea.  He wanted to bring chickens home from school that they had hatched out in science class.  You would think with this crazy fear that I have this momma would have said NO! But since I am all about my kids trying new things and am totally cool (okay maybe that is going a little far) I said yes.  Maybe raising these physco animals from babies would reduce the fear I have each time I see one. 

Well it worked…at least mostly.  Sometimes I have a little fear of the rooster even though he has never acted like he would hurt me…but you just never know. 

At one point if I had walked out into a yard and saw a chicken running toward me I would have turned and ran or got a big stick (I think I could be a pretty good aim).  Yet, now when I walk out of my back door and I have five chickens and two roosters running for me I know it is because they like me (it is actually because they like me to feed them…but a girl can imagine right).  We meet in the middle of the yard and they follow me back to the pen clicking and clacking all the way.  We discuss things like if they were really good chickens they would lay eggs in their egg boxes and NOT poop in them.  Seriously, I had no clue how much poop could come from a chicken.

So the other morning as I walked outside and all the chickens started running toward me it made me realize how much things have changed in what I thought was acceptable behavior between the human species and chickens.  No longer is it my reaction to turn and run but now it is to embrace (no I don’t hug them but we chat like friends).

This is exactly how sin works in our lives.  At one point we see it as horrid, the way God sees it but then sometimes it changes.  Yes…we start when it is really little.  It really could never hurt anything.  Yes, it leaves a little poop but really not a big deal.  It so cute.  Then as it continues to grow, something happens inside us.  We no longer have this disdain for this as we once did.  Repulsion no longer rises in our throat when we see it.  We no longer feel that we need to guard ourselves from it.  Really we have becomes friends with this thing called sin.  How can it be that bad?  It just leaves a little poop along the way.  And then BAM!!! this sins starts giving us something that we want (eggs).  We no longer hate what we once hated.  We think it is the coolest thing ever.  We profit from it.  We can even convince ourselves that God is blessing us because of this one item that we once hated.  Everything seems to be going so well.

AND THEN….God in his goodness lets us realize the consequences.  We look inside our lives (the chicken coop) and see all the disarray.  Yes, others on the outside may never see the inside but we know it is there.  It is POOP.  It is everywhere.  It permeates the air that we breathe.  There is no where to go without it clinging to our shoes.  Forget about getting to rest.  There is no where to rest our weary hearts.  We can’t escape it.   The only solution to our poop issue is to get rid of these creatures that are creating it.  They must be completely banished from our lives and then God is allowed to clean up our home.  He can make it once again sparkling and clean.  A place that is welcoming with this sweet aroma that seeps from our innermost being. 

So those mornings that I walk outside and these vicious creatures start running toward me, may it be a reminder.  May it remind me to hate what God hates.  May it remind me to look at all the "stuff" that we possess.  Are they God's blessings in our lives or is it caused by the sin I am harboring.  As I enter the chicken coop may I be reminded that I can't clean all this mess up by myself.  I need the master cleaner who is Jesus Christ.  There is no way I can remove the stains that have been left by my sin but He can make me whiter than snow.  He is good to me.  He will not allow me to wallow in this mess.  He loves me enough to reveal this sin so that together with my submission to his will I can once again find the peace and true rest that he offers.

Revelations 3:3 Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again... 15 “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! 16 But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! 17 You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked...... 19 I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.n. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.