A scream, like only a teenaged girl can vocalize, sliced the stillness of the afternoon. I raced toward the bedroom where her petulant voice echoed, “MO—THER!”
Daughter stood in the doorway of her closet swatting, scratching, and stripping off clothes. “Ants!” she shouted and smacked her hands up and down her face, neck, and body. “Everywhere. In my closet. In my clothes. Do something!”
“The kitchen, under the sink.” I motioned to the horrified girlfriend plastered against the opposite wall, “Get my rubber gloves and a plastic bag.”
I opened the plastic bag she offered at arms-length and stuffed shoes, socks, shirts, and an assortment of objects attempting to find out where the nasty creatures were coming from. And then, there it was. Laying on the bottom of her junky closet floor, underneath a hubble of rubble—HER GYM BAG.
“But Mom—” Her face colored sorry.
I glared first at her, then at the angry ants. Pulling open the bag I found they had built an ant condominium around her left-over candy bars, crackers, and fruit. For how long? Who knows?
“Open the window and push out the screen,” I ordered and heaved the ants, rotted fruit, and gym bag out the window. “Get the bug spray, the vacuum, and anything else you need to clean up this pigsty and don’t you ever—”
Years have passed and I laugh about the incident now, but isn’t that where we live every day? In a garbage heap of sins and lies that sting, bite, and torture. A place where enemies lurk to demoralize and destroy our families. A place that can be fatal. And a place where we shrug our shoulders passively and dumpster-dive into the growing heap of filth, rather than clean up the rubbish.
But we’re not the first, God’s ancient people did that too. In Jerusalem.
God said their nation was beyond repair because they persecuted the prophets and continually rebelled and sinned against a holy and righteous God. So God sent the Babylonian army, under the rule of King Nebuchadnezzar in 605 B.C., to take Judah captive for seventy years. In the final siege, the king’s army took the rest of the Jews to Babylon and burned the temple, Jerusalem, and tore down the walls of the holy city and burned its gates.
Seventy years later, King Cyrus of Persia signed a decree that allowed the captives to return to Jerusalem, just like God said they would. They began to rebuild the temple, but enemies had moved into the land who refused to accept the returning refugees. The temple work was halted for fourteen years and finally finished in 516 B.C. But the city was a mess. The walls were still broken and the houses destroyed. Ninety-three years after the Jews returned to Jerusalem, with the exception of the temple, the holy city—God’s chosen city—was a dump.
‘Til God called Nehemiah in 445 B.C. to return and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah prayed and fasted and God gave him a plan and, together with the help of the Lord, under the leadership of Nehemiah, the refugees rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem in fifty-two days.
How did they do it?
Nehemiah instructed each family to clean the rubble and rebuild the portion of the wall in front of their home. If you read the 3rd Chapter of Nehemiah you will find the repeated phrase “next to them,” “next to him,” “after them.”
Ah, that’s the answer. God’s people working shoulder to shoulder. Choosing to be holy. Choosing to clean up their life, their family, and their home. But that would mean choosing to denounce and repent of the deep, dark valley of lies that have deceived our minds and hearts and tuning our ears to hear, believe, and stand for God’s truths.
Because America has become a garbage landfill. A dump of everything ungodly.
We face hoards of voices screaming their lies every day: Homosexuality. Abortion. Same sex marriage. Drugs. Murder. No consequences for sin. No hell. All roads lead to God. Everyone goes to heaven. The list is endless.
And yet we knowingly permit ourselves to be lulled, in the darkness of a movie theater or at home in front of our wide screens, by pretty people, gushing half-truths, involved in abhorrent behavior, while beautiful background music sears and dulls our conscience. And we’re not smart enough to discern a half-truth is a whole lie.
America needs tribes of Nehemiahs. Men and women, and young people ready to become valiant warriors for God. Warriors who will stand, focused, and ready to obey their Lord. Servants who will lead God’s people in cleaning up the rubble at their house, throwing it on the trash heap, and rebuilding walls of righteousness and justice and holiness around this nation. One house at a time.
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance” (Psalm 33:12 NAS).
Trust God—And clean house. Your house. Before we too are beyond repair.
I posted it on FB – great story! Poignant truth- perfect for beginning Lent.
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Thank you, Julie. The picture is our teenaged daughter. What a life full of memories she left behind. And she’d be pleased to know it might help someone in this day and time.
DiAne
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I can relate to the experience your precious daughter had, DiAne – indignantly calling attention to a mess only to realize (with reddened cheeks) that my own actions had actually caused it.
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We still chuckle over the whole event. But it wasn’t funny at the time. Thanks for reading. That’s our Michelle’s picture on the post.
DiAne
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Beautiful girl.
My daughter had a Sunday School teacher who would compliment the girls on their pretty Sunday clothing and hair, and then say, “But are you pretty on the inside? God’s looking at the inside…”
I always appreciated that in her.
This is a great post!
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Thank you Katharine, she was a beautiful young woman too. I look forward to our reunion in heaven. ‘Til then, she’s getting special time with Jesus and her Nana and Papa.
My mama always said, “Pretty is as pretty does.” So many of those old sayings we need to revive and teach our children and grandchildren. I’m burdened for our families and our nation. We must pray and pray, then pray some more. God has convicted my heart of my lukewarmness. Compared to Nehemiah, I’m a coward. (And I know we’re not supposed to compare ourselves.)
These Old Testament folks did what God told them to do. I wonder how many times He has told me something and in the chaos of life I’ve didn’t even hear Him?
DiAne
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Been reading an old Neil Anderson book. You are right on the money…
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Great article. We need to start with the white house and clean up all the way to each house. The ants are taking over. The bug spray called voting can rid our country of most of the trouble. Also prayer will help. God help us.
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Jimmy, I haven’t turned on the final election results this morning, but viewing some of the results last night I don’t hold much hope for the voters. We are a divided nation. Unless God’s people repent, and yes, God’s people do have evil ways, and turn from our evil ways and cry out to Him, there is no hope for healing. II Chronicles 7:14.
DiAne
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DiAne, one of your best. Timely, as always. Passionate, as always. Clear, as always. And inspired. And convicting. Opening with the story of your beautiful Michelle and the ant colonies breeding in her closet : ) drew me right into the net of your imagery. The image of dumpster diving is incredibly apt. Going down under the weight of our own trash. Individually, and as a nation. Expecting to find solutions in the pit of our mistakes. Thank you for another brilliant wake-up call.
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Kathleen, you encourage my heart. As you know, writing is a lonely job. We bare our souls and open dirty closets, very often never knowing if our words touch any other hearts. Thank you.
DiAne
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Reblogged this on MOVING THE ANCIENT BOUNDARIES and commented:
A reader called this post from 2014 to my attention…it’s even more applicable today than it was four years ago. And join the conversation.
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