We 've been invaded.....

Last night we discovered that we were being invaded. To be invaded means to enter by force in order to conquer or overrun. To encroach or intrude upon. To infest and to enter and spread harm. We were being invaded by a small wingless insect/parasite that was taking up residence in two of our new girls heads. Yes, they had lice. In this ministry we have come to expect things like this as new girls come from jail or off the streets. I was so busy washing smoky-stinky clothes (so those who were smoke free would not have to smell the temptation) and having the girls fill out paper work and checking them into the new beds that I totally forgot to check heads! When I finally got around to it last night. There they were, the invaders! Settling in and making themselves at home. Those little varmints had one whole free day in the heads of the new girls here in the mission. They took the grand tour (by way of a head) from the library to my office to the kitchen to the dormitory to the whole downstairs area. There was not a room they had not been in. I immediately had my daughter Kendra and our house missionary Tanya go to Wal Mart to purchase the much needed "stop them in their tracks" shampoo. After both girls used the shampoo another one of our girls volunteered to comb through each girls hair to remove the pesky little "nits" (the egg or young of a parasitic insect). This is a tedious and long process. Here's the thing, that is only the beginning. We now had to go through the "sanitation" process of cleaning the beds, linens, walls and everything else in the house. We have spent the whole day washing and washing and washing and washing and washing and washing everything in the mission. Nothing went untouched!

As I have had time to reflect upon the day I begin to think and question, "how could these girls not have known they were being invaded"? How could they not have known that something was taking up residence in their head? I was quickly reminded (by the Holy Spirit) of how we allow sin into our lives. Sin-Any offense, violation, fault or error. Many times we have sin in our lives and do not even realize it. Sin has a way of making its way into our lives without us recognizing it as sin. Many times sin will come in very quietly. It will eventually take over and we will fail to see that it is there. We are so numb to it and begin to except that it is okay. King David was one such man who allowed sin to enter his life.

In the story of David and Bathsheba. What started as a simple glance ended up being so much more. It led to adultery. The death of an innocent man and child. King David was so numb to his own selfish desires that he failed to realize that he had sinned. The Lord then sent Nathan(the prophet) and he shared a story with King David. The story was of a poor man who had one ewe lamb and of a rich man who had a large number of sheep and cattle. The little ewe lamb was very special to the poor man and his family. One day the rich man had a traveler who came to visit him and his family. Instead of preparing a meal for the traveler with one of his many sheep or cattle he took the poor man's only little ewe lamb. He killed the little lamb and prepared it and fed it to his visitor. After hearing the story of the rich man, who stole another man's only lamb and killed it for a feast, King David burned with anger against the rich man, and said, " As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had not pity." Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man!" (2 Samuel chapters 11 &12). David was reminded of how quickly he had allowed sin to come into his life and take over. It took another man to remind David of what was going on in his life. In other words, he had a head or rather a heart check. David does recognize his sin and states, "I have sinned against the Lord." Nathan replies to David, "The Lord has taken away your sin, you are not going to die........Much like the quick acting lice shampoo David's sin was forgiven by God and gone, but David also had to go through the "sanitation" process which follows and is not always easy but is something we must do.

As Paul state in Romans 7:14-20 when struggling with sin:

" We know that the law is spiritual; but I am nonspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do . For What I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is , it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is , in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no the evil I do not want to do -this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it." Romans 7:14-20

Lord, help us to remember that your goodness can be seen in anything we go through in our lives. I pray that I will always be aware of sin. May I never allow sin to invade my life in such a way that I become numb to it and do not recognize what displeases you. Help me to stay close to your Word for the cleansing and reminders that I need to keep that pesky little varmint Satan from blinding me to your truth. May I always be aware of when sin is trying to invade.