Wadded up socks and all...

I had an epiphany this morning.  If we take the time to listen, God is speaking to us all the time and in all things to shape and mold us into the person in Christ we are intended to be.  All we need do is have a ready heart and a keen ear and his messages will come flooding into our souls.  Like this morning...

I have begged, pleaded and even chided my sweet lovin' husband since the first time I did laundry as a married woman; please, for the love of Pete...turn your socks right side out!  This has been a twice weekly conversation now for almost six years.  Every time I load the washing machine with whites, there they sit.  Staring back at me.  Balled up socks.  See, my husband takes his socks off from the top, not the toes and pulls them inside out when they slip off.  They fall off his toes in a little wad.  I cringe nightly as he takes his socks off to get in the shower after arriving home from work because I know that I will find them on the floor, in a sweaty little sock wad.  So I gingerly pick them up or fuss at him until they find their way into the hamper, unwilling to touch his sweaty socks until they have cooled.  And there they cool, in the bottom of the laundry pile awaiting whites day. 

Well, here we are.  This morning, I have enough whites to bleach.  And here I am, grumbling and complaining about his wadded up socks.  Seriously, even my kids know better by now.  But Ben...nothing.  Every single time I hear "okay honey, I will do better next time."  And every time, same wadded up socks.  So I un-wad and grumble.  Grumble and un-wad.  Every.  Single.  Pair.  I head to the bedroom to put away the clothes I just folded and there they are...Jeans, hung on the door's hook.  Three pairs.  Just yesterday, I said "Please!!  For the love of Pete!  Hang up your pants!  If you only wore them for a few minutes and they are still clean, put them on a hanger!"  Yesterday, there were two.  Today, there are three.  UGH.  I hang up the jeans and grumble off to take a shower. 

Then it hits me.  The words of a sage...Don't expect your same behavior out of others.  Granted, the words were about a totally different subject that I will explain very shortly, but God impressed me with the fact that here I have a pretty darn good husband.  He works hard, he loves me with every fiber of his being.  But heaven help him, he's still just a man.  I take my socks off from the toes.  That doesn't make it the "right" way.  I completely forgot about the fact that he cleaned the kitchen for me on Friday night.  Or that he practically waited on me hand and foot on Saturday night so I could finish my crocheting.  Then, I thought of my friend who lost her husband unexpectedly and I cried as thought that she would probably give anything for one more pair of his wadded up socks simply because that would mean he was still there doing the wadding.  One more pair of jeans to hang up means he was still there another day.

So then the Lord showed me my frustration with people I encounter every single day and the words of my pal come back to me.  If you expect "saved" behavior out of unsaved people, you will always be frustrated.  How much good fruit can I bear with frustration being the first fruit of my life?  Jesus said in Matthew 7:16 "By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?"  He was referring to His followers.  Not the world.  In Romans 12:2 we find the following: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will."  Those are directed at believers.  Those who follow Christ. 

The world's behavior should look different to us.  It should break our hearts and create a passion in us to bring Christ to them...however, to hold the world accountable for our standard is not at all correct.  We have been set apart.  We have been saved and recognize that our debt of sin has been paid.  They do not.  We HAVE TO TELL THEM!  But if we go into the world, full of frustration, full of anger rather than full of the fruit of the Spirit, they won't hear us. 

Just like those darn socks.  I have been telling my husband, full of frustration that his socks are a problem for me.  They frustrate me while I do laundry.  Rather, I should thank him for all he does for our family and just pull the wadded up sock out of it's wad.  Maybe one day, he'll get it.  Odds are, he won't.  But I guess that will be okay too. 

Lord, create in us a desire to do Your will.  Even with simple tasks like laundry and honoring our spouse.  Create in us a love for Your people, saved and unsaved.  Give us a desire to seek You, and to bear good fruit.  Allow the fruits of the Spirit to be developed in us, so that we may be equipped to get out there and change the world in Your name and for Your Greatness!  And if you so happen to remind my sweet lovin' man to un-wad his socks, I would be okay with that too.  But if he doesn't, allow me to always see him through Your eyes and love him like You do, wadded up socks and all.

Y'all have a good day!