The daunting realization hit me the other night that I will never get caught up on laundry. It was a sad conclusion. No matter how many times I wash the clothes, I will still have to clean the clothes I am wearing which means, I will eventually have more clothes to wash. A.K.A. I will NEVER get caught up on laundry. 

What’s even worse, is that the majority of the clothes I wash are not even mine! They are little, tiny toddler clothes that take up the whole basket. If they were mine, it wouldn’t be nearly as much to fold/hang because I cannot fit as much in the laundry basket. Instead, I have all these little, tiny pieces which take forever to fold. 

This chore is a necessity. Otherwise, we would stink. Everyone would see our dirty laundry; our filth. 

As I undergo the mountainous task I dread, I’ve learned to thank God that I have these clothes to fold. There are so many people who would give anything to have that basket full of clothes to wash. It would mean they have that child they so longed for.

Our laundry is just like our life. We are sinful by nature. No matter how good I try to be, I will still sin. I lose my cool with my kids on a daily basis. I can nag my husband.  I say things I shouldn’t. I watch things I ought not to.  I get easily frustrated over first world problems. Need I go on?

Our relationship with God is a daily battle. “The old has gone and the new has come “but the old continually tries to come back. Satan does not want us to draw close to God.  The closer we cling to God, the harder he tries to separate. So, what’s the point? Why try? 

We are not designed to do this on our own. It is impossible. We are meant to rely on God. 

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15: 4-5

God sent us a Savior. For a brief moment in time, Jesus wore my dirty laundry. The only person who has ever lived that was sinless became sin for me. For you.

Sin bears a weight. I can think of times when I did something I shouldn’t have and my chest felt heavy. My stomach churned, I couldn’t eat or sleep. It was a miserable feeling. Jesus took on that sin. Not just for me but for everyone who has ever lived or will live. God, His very own father, had to turn away because all He could see was my filth. MY filth. YOUR filth.

Jesus cried out, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me (Matthew 27:46)?!” Jesus felt the weight so much He could not call His Father by the name of Father. I do not know what is worse, my parents not being able to look at me because of what I’ve done or not being able to look at my child because of what they’ve done. Jesus did that because He loves me. He loves you.

The “laundry” looks very different than it did 12 years ago. I walked around in my filth. It was easy for everyone to see my “dirty laundry”. Little by little, God chipped away at my heart. My stains started to become less noticeable. Sure, the stains are still there. New stains show up all the time, but they are not as hard to get out and not nearly as noticeable. 

The more we rely on God, the less noticeable and unbearable the laundry pile becomes. God will be glorified. That’s the point.