Yesterday during my quite time I heard God asking me to lay down on my back right where I was at. Simple Karlie, just get on the ground. You see, 50% of the time I would have done it, no hesitations… except I literally had just showered a few minutes prior and was surrounded by dirt/mud. Also, not to mention the man mowing the lawn was RIGHT NEXT TO where I was sitting! I’m sure they already think us Americans are strange… and I didn’t want to confirm it by laying in mud five feet away from him. But there it was again, that small whisper, “Karlie, lay down where you are at.”
When God tells me to do something once I occasionally do it, but when He tells me twice! You better believe I’ll do it. So I took a deep breath in and whispered to myself… “Welp, here I go…” I then very awkwardly proceeded to get down on the ground and lay in the pile of mud.
The man continued to mow the lawn and I continued to be the weird Californian that lays in dirt and doesn’t say anything. I put my headphones in and listened to a few songs, as if putting in headphones would make me invisible to the rest of the world. HA! It didn’t! The man came over and just stood there, staring at me. I didn’t quite know what to do so I just flashed an awkward smile his direction. He smiled back for about five Mississippi seconds and then walked away. “That was weird,” I thought to myself.
I got up off the wet ground and then continued in my day… not sure why I had to lay in the dirt, but hey! That’s simple obedience right? No matter how silly I look or how foolish I may feel I will still obey the commands of my Father.
I kind of shrugged it off thinking that maybe that man had muttered to God, “If I see a blonde girl lay in a pile of mud today then I’ll know you exist,” (what an odd request) or maybe it was just growing my obedience. I’m not really sure, but I don’t really care, I just know I was obedient.
Then! Today on my date with Jesus I listened to the song “Clean” by Natalie Grant (which I haven’t heard since I was in Australia, so random) and man! I became like Niagara Falls! The lyrics that got me were, “Theres nothing too dirty that you can’t make worthy. You wash me in mercy. I am clean.” And all of a sudden it hit me like a freight train! He had me lay in the dirt (maybe for the man, who knows?) but because He was teaching me something deeper. I was so concerned about laying down on the ground because I didn’t want to get dirty since I had JUST showered but that’s not the point God was trying to make.
I viewed myself as spiritually dirty before God whenever I entered His presence. All of my past mistakes I considered as “dirt.” But God was like no my child, nothing is too dirty that I can’t make worthy. Let me wash you in something greater than water. Let me wash you in my grace, in my mercy, in my perfect love. My darling, you have been washed in the blood of my sacrifice because of my death on the cross. You are made clean in my presence.
One key thing I forgot to mention… When I got up after laying in the mud for about 10 minutes, I had no mud or dirt on me… I was completely clean. Coincidence! I think not! I think that is my God moving in the physical, not just the spiritual.
(P.s. this experience reminds me of Jesus at the well with the Samaritan woman talking about being the source of living water.)
