The Moldy Basement Parable-Part One
Me and my three year-old daughter Mackenzie smiled and stood proudly behind the SOLD sign of our new home as family members and friends snapped photos. After several months of searching, I had saved enough money to be able to buy the adorable home. We were starting a new life, and this house had everything we needed. It was small but just right for me, Mackenzie and our two dogs. Everything had its place, and after a time of great loss and sadness we were finally smiling again. I sat on the deck holding my daughter with our two dogs snuggled next to me. “Thank you God for this new start” I whispered quietly with tears in my eyes. “I dedicate my home to You.”
Three months went by, and a Nor’easter storm blew in while I was out of town for a woman’s retreat with my church. After returning home and putting my daughter to bed, I went downstairs in the basement to do some laundry when I saw that water was starting to leak from the corner of the basement wall. I quickly grabbed some towels and started soaking up the water.
All of a sudden, water started coming from another corner and it was coming in faster and faster! To my despair, I looked down and water starting actually coming from the foundation all around me. I ran to the den and office and started to see water rise from the carpet. I had minutes to unplug all of the outlets and frantically tried to raise the furniture so it would not be damaged but the water was coming so fast! I immediately grabbed my two small dogs and ran upstairs and called for help.
For three days, the water poured into the basement. I cried out to God, “Why? This was a start of a new life! I thought everything was supposed to be better now! Everything had its place. I spend every penny for this home and it appeared so perfect; now half of it is destroyed! ”
As the cleanup began, the walls buckled from the water damage. The owner of the water damage restoration company called me over to one of the walls he was tearing down. “There is no easy way to say this, but you, your daughter and pets need to vacate immediately! There is black mold behind all of these walls!” I stood there in complete shock as I saw behind the paneling and drywall black mold as tall as I was! Worse yet it had been hidden all of this time! The deadly black mold was everywhere.
Me, my daughter and the dogs had to leave our home while the basement was completely gutted and repaired. I cried out again, but this time my tears were tears of gratefulness. “God, thank you for revealing the hidden dangers behind what appeared to be a perfect dwelling place. It took tearing down the walls to see the danger of what was behind them. My daughter, pets and I could have lived in this danger for years and could have gotten very sick and even endangered others if the flood had not occurred.”
As I reflected on the mercy of God, I realized that my prayer three months before when we first moved into what I thought was the “perfect little house” had truly been answered. God saw the danger and revealed and removed me and my family before more damage was done.
Reflect
How many times has God allowed certain things to occur in your life in order to expose deeper issues the enemy set as traps that could have caused death and destruction for yourself and others around you?
Meditate
Genesis 50:20
1 Peter 1:6-7
Act
It is not God’s will that we live with deadly “black mold” in our lives. When situations occur that shock, discourage and devastate us, remember that God can take ANY situation and turn it around for good. Ask God today to reveal, expose, gut, repair and restore any moldy areas of your life!
