Mold

​My sinuses filled and it became ridiculous trying to breathe at night.  Slowly I found my energy ebbing while my frustration grew at constantly being stuffed.  Most of the summer was like this.  I went to the doctor and she prescribed medication.  It did not help.  I went back and she gave me a stronger prescription which worked wonderfully until it ran out.  Again my head felt like a piñata.  I’ve never had allergies and I didn’t think I was allergic to Wisconsin but something clearly was wrong.  

To make things worse there was a persistent odor in the bathroom of the house I was renting. At the end of my six weeks at Fort McCoy, I sent a note to the Installation Commander.  I thanked him for the use of the cottage but also noted that they should have it checked for possible mold.  He acknowledged my email and promised to have an inspector examine it. Sure enough, they found a broken pipe behind a wall that was not properly repaired causing all kinds of mold to grow.  Mold—a four lettered word with hidden meaning:Making Our Living Difficult.  No wonder I was sick!  
 
Meditation
Psalm 19:12—Who perceives his unintentional sins? Cleanse me from my hidden faults.
 
There are sins of omission and sins of commission.  Sometimes it is the ones we miss by oversight that can be damaging. For example, if someone is talking to me and I pretend to be listening but my thoughts are really engaged in something else (liking reading emails on a Blackberry), the message I send is that I’m not really interested in what the speaker has to say.  The unintentional sin is deficient caring—perhaps self-centeredness.  If this misbehavior is not corrected a child may grow up concluding her father doesn’t care about her; the coworker may quit coming for help; the spouse may despair of ever having meaningful conversation; and the list of unintended consequences grows.
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Hidden mold kept me sick.  Until I left the environment I could not properly heal.  Unintentional sins can be just as bad.  When was the last time you prayed, “Lord, is there anything in my life that is causing others to be sick and is disturbing You?  If so, Lord, please bring it to my attention, purge it from my life and forgive me.  I’m sorry for causing harm.  Make my life a pleasing aroma for Your glory!  Amen.”
 
Inspiration
Full exposure of each sin by the offender prevents greater harm from occurring to the body of Christ.  Confession of sin grounded in sincere repentance is the most effective weapon of spiritual warfare.  There is no place for hidden sin among partners of the gospel.—Tom Capps inPray and Plan
 
©2011 Daniel York  ARR.  Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box. Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)