The Unexpected Defrosted Freezer & Hot Mess Parable
One morning I went into the kitchen to make breakfast and I discovered that the door to my freezer had been cracked open all night, and boy did I have a mess!
All of my food in the freezer was defrosted, wet and slushy. I immediately freaked out because I had a ton of food in the freezer and as a single mom, I was on a budget. I tried to see if there was anything that could be saved, but when it was all said and done I had to get everything out of the freeze and spent hours cleaning up the mess.
I eventually let go of the fact that nothing in the freezer could stay in there and that it all needed to go. Now, even though the loss of the food and money to replace it was great, it would have been quite foolish and even dangerous if I decided to keep some of the food, dry it off like nothing happened and refreeze it to use again later. Even though I wish that I could have saved any of the items, if I had left it alone and just shut the door, or later tried to use the items, I could have gotten myself, my daughter and anyone else exposed to the food very sick.
As hard as it was, I had to dispose of all of the food and trust God that He would meet our needs and restore what we lost. As messy as it was to clean up the aftermath, toss out the spoil and clean out the freezer, I now had a safe and clean freezer waiting to be filled again. Sometimes in life we find a crack in our spiritual freezers. The enemy may have snuck in, the door might have broken due to wear, or we may have allowed him in through the cracks of our own negligence, sin and bad choices. Unnoticed, the open door caused the things inside to defrost, become messy and ultimately spoiled.
It would be silly in the natural to put everything back as if it never happened or assume that we could put the spoiled food back in and refreeze it to use again. On the surface it may seem fine, but later using and ingesting it could lead to serious illness and poisoning.
There are times like this when we just have to clean up the mess, throw away the spoiled and soggy items of what was and trust that God will restore and refill what was lost. We can’t go back and make sure the door was closed, but we can be more aware to check and fix whatever was needed so that it didn’t happen again. We can trust that God protected us and will fill it back up better than before.
If you have recently discovered a mess in your freezer, start the cleanup fast! The sooner you let go of the spoil, the sooner you can clean up and expect big from God to restore!
Reflect
Do you or someone you know have a freezer full of spoiled food? Has there been an open door for enemy to come in and ruin what was inside? Are you struggling with letting it go and starting over or refreezing bad food that will later make you and others sick? Journal your thoughts.
Meditate
Read the following scriptures, and ask the Holy Spirit to show you the life lessons you can apply to your life right now as you face these challenges: Job 11:13-20 Ecclesiastes 3:6 Isaiah 43:18-19 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 2 Corinthians 5:17 Philippians 3:12-14
Act
Empty out your spiritual freezer of all ruined, soggy and expired items, clean it out and trust God to put everything back in and be vigilant to make sure the door does not crack or swing wide again. Do not put anything back in that could make you or others sick. As desperate or hopeless as you feel, do not deceive yourself. Choose this day to clean up, clean out and trust that in God’s perfect timing all will be replaced.
