Happy to Be Scratch and Dent
After many years of cooking abuse, my stove top’s black-painted rim had been chipping and revealing the silver metal underneath, mainly on the side that I used the most. I tried to paint it, even Sharpie it, but every time I would clean it, it quickly rubbed off. One day as I was cleaning it, I thought maybe it was time to just replace it, but that was a momentary, fleeting thought though, as my frugal counter-mind quickly dismissed it. I knew there were far pressing areas that needed our finances, so why replace it when it works fine, I reasoned. I decided that I would just be thankful that I had a good, working cook top and that the wear and tear was a sign that God had abundantly provided for our meals.
It also made me think of how grateful I am that God doesn’t have those replacement thoughts about us. “Yep, recall that one, she’s got a dent…that one too, he’s got a chip.” We get ourselves into some real messes sometimes and God could reject us, but that’s not the kind of God He is. He doesn’t discount us like a home improvement store would…decreasing the value just because our exterior isn’t perfect. No…He cleans us up and leaves the scratches and dents to remind us daily of His endless mercy, grace and provision. We try so hard to hide our flaws, to mask our imperfections, just as I so desperately tried to paint over the problem areas of my stove. But God doesn’t want to shame us by covering up our faults, He uses them to teach us and others that under all our self-applied damage control, there is a beautiful silver lining to be revealed.
Romans 8:37-39 (NIV) “…We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Same scripture in the (SKM…Sheryl K. Malek version) “We are so much better off through Him who loves us. I am sure that neither scratch nor dent, nor nick or chip can separate us from His love, revealed through our Lord, Jesus Christ.”