I have a harrowing tale to share! I hate to confess, but I was a coward! I lost my lady-like poise! But when you find out why, you will understand my stance!

I am sure if you have lived in a house for any length of time, you have had close calls!!! Maybe with mice running amuck! A sewer rat that is as big as a cat! A roach scurrying across your freshly cleaned floors! Anything can happen when you live in a house! Even in the cleanest of homes!

SO MY CHURCH (BRAT) STORY begins:

A few weeks ago, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, I was cleaning in my living room/TV room. Praise music booming! Me, finally having enough energy to dance and clean. I found out that I am getting too old to clean and dance around at the same time! I had been cleaning for a while, so I sat down for a minute to change the Swiffer duster to clean my fans (much needed since my fans run almost 24/7).

As I sat down, I saw something run quickly across my rug. When I say quickly, I almost thought I imagined it. I stopped and held my breath for a second afraid to breathe or move. Then I saw it again! This “thing” was running and was on my rug that is filled with a lot of neutral colors. But then, I saw something blue! My rug has no blue!

I screamed, and it turned and looked at me and ran under my TV stand. It was a “blue-tailed baby lizard!” IN MY HOUSE & IT LOOKED AT ME! I didn’t know they existed! But, they do!

I grabbed the phone and called George. You have to remember, I am home, and he is at work about 30 minutes away. It is midday, and nowhere near time for him to get off of work. The conversation went something like this:

ME: George, there is something in the house, and it is super fast, and it went under the TV stand, and I need you to come home and get it out!

GEORGE (laughing – he could laugh because he didn’t see that thing):

Well, honey, I am at work, and you are at the house…so, you can get it out. (Oh, he thinks he is funny, he has jokes). You have to learn to keep the back door shut, or they think they can just come in.

(Ok, to my defense, I only leave it open or slightly ajar, so the dogs can go in and out. The backyard is not fenced in, so they can only go out when George is back there.)

ME: I can’t! It is super fast, and it was looking at me. I am not cleaning in here anymore until you come and get it out! By the way, can they eat my face off?

GEORGE: No, Honey, they cannot eat your face off. If you don’t want to get it out then, ok, you are the one in the house with it!

Seriously, George! That was not comforting at all!

Listen, this husband of mine is supposed to be my hero, right? He was no help in my moment of panic! As far as I was concerned, he left me there to die with a blue-tailed, face-eating lizard!

I decided I wouldn’t go back in the room, but I kept peeking in to make sure that thing was still where we could find it.

George came home, put some apple bits in a box, turned the box so the lizard could run into it. “Larry the Lizard” (yes, it has been in my house long enough to have a name) ran into the box, and George took it outside and turned it loose. MY HERO!

You would think that the story ended there, but nooooooo…Fast forward to the following Wednesday.

We were on a zoom prayer call. We were waiting for everyone to get on to get started. George and I are usually on the call early to talk to everyone and see how things are going. George was in the recliner with my computer open on a side table. I sat down in the corner chair where I could see the screen from where I was sitting. Everyone was chatting and waiting for others to come on. I thought, “it is so good to hear our church family talking and laughing and getting ready for some focused prayer.”

The call began, and about 5-10 minutes in, I felt something on my arm; I looked down and didn’t see anything. Hmmmmm…

Then I felt it again, only this time I could feel the teensy, tiny little suction cup feet running on my arm. I waved my arm to get it off, but that crazy thing ran down my leg!

George was on mute, thankfully, because I screamed and jumped up. I was screaming at George to come and get “it.” George looked at me like I had lost my mind, again!

ANOTHER LIZARD WAS IN MY HOUSE!

I was horrified, first, because it was on my bare arms and second, because this is my house!

Did Larry the Lizard go back and tell his family that there was a house that would serve up a picnic if you went and waited long enough? Did the mom come to check it out or to put in an order for the family special? (I was assuming at this point it was a girl because I already named Larry as the dad)

So, I am screaming at George to get it. I jumped up and pointed at the chair and ottoman.

GEORGE: What in the world are you doing?

ME: George, there is another lizard in the house. It was on my arm and then on my leg!!!! George, come and get it. Hurry!

GEORGE (not getting up and just was looking from his chair): Are you sure?

ME: YES! I am sure. Its little suction feet ran across my arm and leg. I could feel them!!!! Come over here and get it!

GEORGE (getting up to look): I don’t see anything…

ME: It’s there! Couldn’t you hear the suction feet while it was running?

GEORGE (laughing): No!

George finally got up, but he wasn’t taking me seriously. He began turning over the chair and ottoman. He pulled it away from the wall and was looking. I don’t think he believed me! But I promised him it was there. Maybe, it went under the TV stand, again.

I had moved across the room but then went back over toward the chair to get my charging cord. I heard George say:

GEORGE: Honey, stand still. (What???) You might want to get out of that area.

ME: Why?

GEORGE: Because I see him!

I ran out of that part of the room and was watching. Then, I saw the blue tail move! That thing had stuck itself to the side of my ottoman and was just hanging on. It was almost the color of my ottoman, so I didn’t see it at first. Of course, you know me, when I saw it, I screamed at George and was pointing.

GEORGE (laughing) walks by me, leaving me alone with Mrs. Lizard, and gets a box from outside and puts her in the box. Once again, my hero, escorts a BLUE-TAILED LIZARD out of my house!

Needless to say, I will pull the screen when I have the back door open!

WHAT’S ON MY MIND?  GLAD YOU ASKED!

Have you ever noticed that things that do not belong in our house (heart) come creeping in and we are not aware of it until it shows it’s ugly head. We just go on living our lives like there is nothing lurking in the shadows of some part of our heart. It is slick, it is quick and it thinks it will not be seen.

Sin will hide and then all of a sudden come boldly out in the open; all the while trying to camouflage itself as something else. We don’t see it until we look closely and realize that something isn’t right. Maybe we get a quick look and think, oh it’s not that bad. But then, one day you wake up and realize that this slick talking serpent (the devil, the accuser) has been in your house; scurrying, unnoticed and not invited.

Genesis 3:1a 

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

It scares you when you see it. You feel alone and vulnerable. You call a friend that doesn’t know how to pray or maybe doesn’t know the Lord. There is a distance between you all because you need someone who is near Jesus that can help you get this unwanted “guest” out of your house. It is hiding, but now you know where it is and you need help. You run trying to get away from it, but then you keep looking to see if it is still there.

This can take on a lot of forms such as :

• An unhealthy or abusive relationship (Colossians 3:19, Ephesians 5:25, )
• An addiction that you cannot seem to get out of your life (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
• Material things that consume you, but you still feel empty (Romans 12:2)
• Pleasures of life that you have made an idol. (Exodus 20:2-17)  NOTE: Tim Keller states in his book Counterfeit Gods, an idol is “anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, and anything that you seek to give you what only God can give.” Essentially, an idol can be anything that takes the place of God as the most important focus and priority in our life.
• Only thinking about you and your family and no one else, when Jesus clearly states that we have to love our neighbor as ourselves. (Mark 12:31)
• Friends that are not good for your spiritual health. This can take on the form of a “Christian” friend that is negative, that gossips, that does not live out the life of Jesus. It can also be, a friend that you have had since kindergarten and they have not surrendered to the Lord and they try to entice you into sinful activities. (I Corinthians 15:33)
• Filthy talk. Such as filthy jokes, posts, memes, and our everyday conversations. (Ephesians 4:29)

And so much more, but I will stop right there for now.

What do you do when you see these things in your life showing their ugly self? Eventually it will come out, at least to eat. It eats at your very being. Guilt and shame keep you from calling a friend to pray for you and with you. These lies will keep you from falling on your face and asking Jesus to take it from you.

Guilt and shame were taken away at the cross. Yes, you have to confess your sin and repent. When true repentance comes, change comes, and the blood of Jesus washes away all guilt and shame. But, you do not go back to that sin that causes you to feel unworthy and unloved.

1 John 1:9 

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Let me share a story from John.

There was a woman that the religious leaders brought to Jesus. She was a prostitute! They brought her to Jesus to bring guilt and shame to her. Not to help her, but to humiliate her.

SIDE NOTE: I often wonder how they knew where to find her. Just sayin’ !

She was brought to Jesus. Jesus waited and wrote something in the sand. Maybe it was shame on you Pharisees, I don’t know, but it took them off guard. Jesus look at them and told them if you have never sinned, you can be the first to start killing her. He patiently waited until they had all left. Left her there, in her guilt and shame. Then a wonderful thing happened. Jesus talked to her without judgement of who she was but told her who she will be if she obeyed Him. He told the prostitute to go and do not commit that sin again.

Read the whole story in John 8. Read it and find your worth in Jesus, just like the prostitute did!

Just remember, you can get those things out of your house. You will start to feel safe again. Then out of nowhere, another sin becomes bolder. Crawling on you. You try to brush it off and you think it is gone, but there it is stuck to the side of your heart.

Jesus is the HERO of our story. He will take those things from us. We have to call on Him to come and take it away. That sin may be taken away, then low and behold, another one comes stepping all over you. Again, cry out to Jesus. He will take that sin and cast it away!

We cannot say Jesus take it and then try to hide it, thinking He can’t see it. That is not true repentance. Stop ~ Point at it ~ See it for what it is! Then, reach out and call on Jesus to rescue you! Find a prayer partner or get a group of prayer warriors and let them pray over you and with you. You do not have to do this alone!

Take a moment and listen to this song before we pray! Sometimes when I don’t know what to say. I just sing this as a prayer to Jesus! It is ok if you want to do that.

PRAY THIS WITH ME TODAY (in your own words).

Jesus,

I love You! You are good. You are my Creator. You are pure Love. You are Justice and Mercy. You are Eternal. You are my Father. You are my Forgiver. You are my only Hope. I worship You as my King. Thank You for calling me family and loving me as only a Father can!

You are my King because today, I surrender to You. I want to serve You with all of my heart. So, I am asking You to take out everything that I have left the door open to creep in and hide. I am scared when I see it. I want to run from it, but Jesus, I am running to You. Come live in me and take out everything that does not belong in my heart.

You will draw near to me when I take the steps to draw near to You. I need You. I cannot live in this chaotic world without you. The world wants to creep in, but Jesus you can keep them out. Help me close the door and not open it back for satan to re-enter my life.

Thank you for taking my guilt and shame. I will live in the mercy and grace that You have given me.

Amen