Driving home from church this
week I flattened an already-dead-or-so-I-think skunk. I'm a good driver but
admittedly I'm not cut out for the wild closed-circuit obstacle course
driving... which explains why I couldn't avoid that dead black and white fur
ball in the road.
Clunk. I heard it when my tire rolled over. I felt the speed
bump. And then I smelled it. It seeped through my vents and took
root in the carpet fibers of my floor mats. My nose burned and my eyes
watered. I had been skunked. The pungent odor obviously affected my
logic because I drove right into the garage and closed the door, as if I
would somehow suffocate the stench rather than invite it closer to home!
Ahem, Heinecke. Dumb move.
Ahem, Heinecke. Dumb move.
Eventually I wised up and moved the car outside. But it was too late. The aroma had penetrated the door and crept into my house. It was inescapable. And it lingered. (And it was downright gross.)
Waking up the next morning I detected only a hint of skunk in the house. My car? A different story. (Just how many of those suckers did I hit?!) I believe it will be a rancid ride for a while.
And because I cannot stand to pass up an impromptu Bible lesson for my kids, I started thinking...
The love of God is like being sprayed by a skunk.
Too often we 'toy' with the idea of being fully surrendered to the will of God. We keep our distance, satisfied to just get a 'look' but never moving too closely so our hearts remain unchanged. What happens when we go all the way and unapologetically follow Him, no matter what He asks of us? What happens if we go after Him and pursue holiness and extreme obedience and unnatural faith? What happens if we 'poke a skunk' and say yes to the Father?
Well, we might just get completely covered in the love of God. It's possible the effects would be so intense, so evident, so recognizable that those people around us wouldn't second guess what happened. It's possible we couldn't just easily 'wash it off' and go on with life because we would be altered, changed, identifiable. It's possible people wouldn't even have to be too close to us to know what has happened. The evidence would linger and influence others around us. It's possible. But we'd first have to get 'skunked.'
With God, all things are possible.
When I ride around in my skunkmobile this week, I'm asking the Father to pour out his love on me and let it get all over me like oily skunk gunk. (a pretty-smelling kind of gunk, okay Lord?) I want to get close enough to the heart of God that it leaves no doubt what I've been up to. I want to have His love penetrate every part of my life -- even my garage and my car.
14But thanks be to God, who always
leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere
the fragrance of the knowledge of him. 15For we are to God the aroma of
Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16To
the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who
is equal to such a task? 2 Corinthians 2:14-16