During the second year that my husband and I were married, we moved into our first home. Upon moving in, there was a large dead cockroach that was wedged in between the window pane in our master bathroom shower. The very sight of it made me shudder every time I would get near it.
Every night I would ask my husband to remove it and every morning it would still be there. After many weeks, I was becoming angry over his refusal to remove it. My anger only seemed to tickle him all the more as he would continue to tell me, “It’s therapeutic.” He would then say in a completely calm voice, “If it bothers you so much, get rid of it.” I was far from pleased at his unwillingness to remove the thing that clearly upset me.
Fast forward a few more weeks. I was cleaning the bathroom and had once again opened the shower curtain to find myself face-to-face with the dead roach in the window pane. Finally, something inside me stirred up. I had it. I could not stand it anymore. I thought to myself, “That’s it. If he isn’t going to get rid of it, I am just going to have to get rid of it myself!”
I then proceeded to get the longest screwdriver I could find. I stood on top of the side of the tub, being sure to elevate my head higher than the roach that I was convinced was going to fall in my hair. I then proceeded to wedged it out. With a quick crunch, the dead roach landed on the floor of the tub. I then proceed to grab a dozen paper towels to distance my hand from the dead roach. I gently grabbed it and with a huge shiver dropped it into the trash. I had done it! I had done it! I felt so proud of myself. It was indeed therapeutic.
Ten years later, I can now pick up a dead roach with my bare hands. I still don’t like crunching a live roach, but I will when I need to. As I thought about the dead roach I could not help but ask myself, “What roaches are lingering in my life?”
Just as soon as I thought the question, two “roaches” came to mind: sluggish mornings and hectic days. I have always been a “night person” and most of the work that I cannot get done while our children are awake is done at night. I have asked the Lord to remove my sluggish mornings, to make me a “morning person,” and to remove my hectic days from me for quite some time, yet He has not. I have come face-to-face with them nearly everyday, but lately something in me is stirring. I know it is about time for me to rise up and wedge them out by waking up earlier and planning better for the next day the night before.
Indeed, it is up to me to do it and God has given me the ability to do so. He has empowered me to remove the “dead roaches” in my life, by allowing me to continue to come face-to-face with them everyday. It’s therapeutic. Whether I choose to remove the dead roaches is up to me and it is a choice that matters most.
So, if you are an early riser, please include me in your morning prayers. Pray that I will be diligent to rise up daily and wedge out those sluggish mornings and hectic days. Pray that I will be diligent in the evening to prepare for the day to come. I am done with staring at the roaches and doing nothing to wedge them out.
Romans 8:37
… in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
