Last winter we had a really cold day. It wasn’t a “I should wear a jacket today” cold day. It was a “My nose hairs turned into icicles when I breathed through my nose” kind of cold day. I remember I had to run home from work to get something. Luckily, we only live one mile from work so it would be a quick trip home and back. On my way home I heard a sound like something hitting the windshield. Then I watched it unfold in front of my eyes. My windshield cracked from the lower right side up about half a foot and towards the middle and then back down ending at the lower left side of the window. I now had a crack across the entire lower half of my windshield.
In June, my friend and I were traveling from Le Mars to the airport in Sioux Falls. We had a pretty early flight so we were on the road even earlier. Driving down Highway 3 my headlights pierced the darkness around us. All we could see was what the light from my headlights shone on. Then all of a sudden there it was in the road. A pheasant was sitting in our path. I’m pretty sure it knew that cars were dangerous because it immediately took flight to get out of our way. It got into the air, but not out of the way. It’s heavy body hit directly in front of my friends face. *Boom! Now there was another crack (and one less pheasant).
So now I had two cracks obstructing my view. One was enormous and spanned the entire width of the window. The other was smaller and centralized in one area.
For month’s I drove around with those cracks in the windshield. I drove around with them because I didn’t want to have to pay to replace the windshield. I had other things that were more important to me to take care of on the financial end. So I drove around with the cracks. I got used to them and didn’t notice them after a while.
Finally, taking care of the situation, I had the windshield replaced yesterday. Driving with my new windshield is beautiful! I now have an unobstructed view of what is in front of me. Not only is the new windshield crack-free, but I noticed there are no smudges on it. You know what I’m talking about… car windows get marked up. Finger prints, hand prints, nose prints from the dog and other kinds of marks get on the window. At times we try and get them off, but there’s always something that remains. But driving home yesterday I was ecstatic that THE WINDOW IS CLEAN!
Driving home I also thought about how many times in my life I’ve had cracks in my window and didn’t take care of them quickly and got used to the obstructed view. I’m not talking about a physical window here. I’m referring to that window being my life and the cracks being sin. How many times in my 44 years have I left sins there and not taken care of them. The crack of anger. The fracture of a lustful heart. The chip of jealousy. For years I left those cracks in my windshield and didn’t take care of them. For years, I also struggled with seeing myself as anything but a failure and not as God as intended for me to be. When we acknowledge those sins in our own lives and do nothing about them, it obstructs of view of who God is and what He has for us. We don’t see Him clearly because those cracks are obstructing our view.
1 John 1:9 states that if we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and will then go on to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That forgiveness and cleansing that John writes about in that passage removes those cracks. It doesn’t glaze them over and patch them. It removes them. It gives you a clean crack and smudge-free view. David also writes in Psalm 32:5 “Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.”
What cracks are obstructing your view? Maybe it’s a small chip that is easy to look around and you only notice when you look it’s way. Maybe it’s a crack big enough to fill your entire view. Whatever size the crack may be, I encourage you to have it taken care of.
Father, thank you for prompting me to clean my view of the physical cracks that were blocking my view. Lord, I ask that Your Holy Spirit would continue to reveal those cracks in my life that are blocking my view of You. In doing so Father that we would confess those cracks to You and You would forgive us! How sweet it is when You remove those cracks. Amen.
