The Roach Approach

One evening while in the final stages of my last pregnancy, I was sitting in bed watching TV when I sighted the worst of all my domestic enemies – a nasty looking cockroach – scurry into my room. Immediately I tensed up, waiting for it to get close enough to exterminate it but unfortunately it found a hiding place under a pile of stuff and disappeared. I was quite upset, thinking I didn’t want to go to bed with a cockroach in my room! My husband had just finished watching his football team triumph against their opponents and was watching playbacks with relish in the hall. I knew calling him to come and play an exterminator role would not be amusing at all so I sat waiting and watching for the cockroach to make another appearance. The little critter was quite an adventurer though and soon enough it appeared again as if to test my patience. With the precision of an assassin, I slowly eased myself off my bed, grabbed my weapon (Charlie wote no lie!) and positioned myself for the assault. “Smaaasssssssssh”! In one swift deadly strike the deed was done and I was quite content that the threat had been removed from my sight and my thoughts for the night! I mopped the fallen foe off the floor and disinfected the floor to rid it of any traces of the pest. Mission accomplished and I was satisfied. I couldn’t stand the thought of it hiding somewhere and breeding! I woke up the next morning with the memory of the night’s incident on my mind. As I thought about my ‘zero tolerance’ for the cockroach stance, the Lord spoke to my heart about my own life. Here I was ready to expend energy and time on ridding my room of a little cockroach, giving it no room to escape and going the extra mile to sanitize my floor afterwards. Was I that fierce and determined in extinguishing any negative traits that reared their ugly heads such as anger, bitterness, envy, unforgiveness, discontent just to name a few? In my marriage was I that passionate about not letting any little thing fester and grow to affect the joy and peace we have as a couple? The scripture in Songs of Solomon 2:15 came to mind then “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom”. The speaker in the book of Songs was cautioning about allowing the seemingly little things to destroy relationships and other areas of our lives. Just as I wanted to eliminate any trace of that roach, so the Holy Spirit was urging me to be as fierce in my desire to pursue holiness and rid my life of any sin that would ruin my vineyard. What happens with these little foxes is that they are able to work their way into the vineyard unseen and wreak havoc on a once fruitful vineyard. Isn’t it the same with seemingly ‘tiny’ sins and habits that derail us in our walk with God and prevent us from being fruitful in every area of our lives?   That little indulgence could cost you a lot in the long run. Don’t tolerate it, exterminate it!    A while ago we engaged a company to fumigate our house to get rid of pests and they gave a guarantee that for six months we shouldn’t find any cockroach in our home. However two months down the line, a few appeared around the house. After investigations, they realised that there was a small hole near our septic tank where they were breeding. That hole needed to be plugged to ensure we were free of the pests. In our lives too, sometimes there is a door that needs to be closed. A door that is allowing or could eventually allow sin into our lives. It may be a relationship, a habit, a place etc. Whatever it is we need to close that door! Even a little too much of a good thing can be harmful in the end. What is your tolerance level for sin? Do you entertain sinful thoughts and let them play in your mind or are you swift to counter them with the Word of God? Are you letting that habit lead you astray or are you allowing the Holy Spirit to have control over your desires? As the Bible Says; “If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacle” (Job 11:14) You cannot afford to let wickedness co-habit with you. Light and darkness cannot fraternize! Paul also admonishes us to “Abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thess. 5:22). We must not flirt with the enemy. I always remember this phrase from Rev Chris Matthews at a Calvary Road camp meeting back in the day. He said; “you cannot sleep in Delilah’s lap and expect to wake up in Abraham’s bosom.” Bottom line, if you play with fire, fire will burn you! Samson played with the wrong lady and woke up to horror! Very often the seemingly innocent pleasures we entertain can become weights that hinder us in our walk with God. The Bible urges us in Hebrews 12:1; “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” I want to follow the roach approach to my walk with God. What about you? May God help us to be as passionate about protecting our hearts from sin infestation as we are about guarding our homes from roach and other pest infestation! Shalom!