Dirty Laundry

My dryer broke last week. Those of you who have a lot of dirty laundry know what that means. There’s only so much you can wash without a dryer because everything has to be air dried. For a while my house looked like a clothing museum with blouses and shorts hanging on every available hook!

But no matter how hard I tried, the dirty laundry kept piling up and I just couldn’t get it to it all. It was overwhelming. Even when the dryer was finally repaired, it still seemed like an endless process to catch up. If only someone would clean up my dirty laundry for me!

Isn’t that the way it is with our lives? We have so many baskets of dirty laundry in our past, we don’t think they could ever be cleaned up. We have secret sins that no one knows about; and we figure if they did, they might think less of us. Our knowledge of our sin prevents us from having a vibrant relationship with God because we think there’s too much to overcome. How could He ever forgive a wretch like me?

Good News!  God has a washer and dryer that can handle all of our dirty laundry! We may think we’ve stuffed it away in our closet so no one can see the mounds of filth in our lives, but we cannot hide anything from God. He is ready and willing to take our past and launder it for us. John 1:9 says, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

That means all sins, even the most soiled garment you have.

While we often times have trouble forgiving ourselves, God desires to forgive us. All he wants is for us to turn the dirty laundry over to him.

The Israelites had the same problem.  They had a nation-full of dirty laundry, but God loved them so much, he wanted them to repent and be restored. In Isaiah 1:18-20 he laid it out for them:

Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.

Through this passage, God’s also telling us to be reasonable. He doesn’t want our dirty laundry weighing us down. All we have to do is give him all of our life, not just the good parts, so he can help us keep our laundry clean in the future.

Are you willing to hand over your dirty laundry?

Lisa Burkhardt Worley