Here I am, scrubbing a squatty potty with my hands and a cleaning brush. I knew the Lord would call me to new experiences, but I never thought I would come as low as scrubbing a squatty potty on my hands and knees. Seeing my teammate Christa clean them before me, and watching her clean all the unmentionables off the bowl of the potty, gave me the strength to put aside my dignity, and do what needed to be done.
Now, I want to express to you how badly I didn’t want to do this. Before the day came for our group to clean, we all talked about how we would NEVER, I repeat NEVER, be brought low enough to scrub a squatty clean. After this was established, we continued to discuss more things we would never do in our lives. Not because we were on the race, and we didn’t want to sacrifice anymore of ourselves for the sake of others, but also in our environments back home. As we continued to scrub, Christa and I began to divulge our present feelings on the situation:
“Lord I knew you called me to something different, but I didn’t think it was this.”
“Right? I didn’t think I could be stripped of my dignity any more than I already have.”
“I thought I left all my dignity in Africa, but I guess I still tried to hold onto some of it.”
“ I know me, too. It’s kind of funny though when you think of it. Jesus came down and lowered himself to the lowest of low. He was placed in the most undignified situation ever, and humbled to the point of hanging on a cross. When I think of it like that, scrubbing a squatty is nothing for him to ask of us.”
“You know what? That’s so true. We are called to lose our dignity when we are called to follow Christ.”
“ For real, I’m like, you gotta be ready to lay down your dignity, a.k.a. all that you are, in order to follow Jesus.”
“I know right! He is transforming us right now! This is something I told myself I would never do, and now look at me. The Lord did a work in me, that’s for sure.”
“Ain’t that the truth! Praise Him!”
I never thought the Lord would bring so much of Himself to us while doing the dirtiest, grossest thing we’ve ever done. The Lord spoke through us laying down what we thought we shouldn’t have to lay down, to glorify Him. God met us right there while we scrubbed that squatty clean with bleach. Friends, never consider anything you do for the Lord as useless, 1 Cor 15:58, and remember that God sent his Son, who was rich, and became poor for us, reducing himself to poverty, so we could inherit the riches of His Kingdom 2 Cor 8:9. If we’re going to follow Jesus, we HAVE to lay it all down… even if that means mustering up the courage to get down on your hands in knees and clean a squatty potty.
Love,
Alisha
