The Fly Fart

"Have you ever smelt a fly fart?"

The attendees and I started laughing.  What could be better?  A room full of men and our speaker, Doug, talking about farts.  This was going to be good.

"My neighbor has the ability to smell a fly fart.  Anything that smelled odd, he would let you know.  One very hot day - you know the type where all the windows are open hoping for some sort of breeze?  Well, we had a problem with our septic system."

Now for my readers who live in the city, a septic system is where the country folk collect all the sewage from the home that eventually needs to be emptied.  You know, the crap?  

This was getting better and better by the minute. Farts. Excrement.  Where was this talk going?

"We had the septic guy with his overalls come to the house. As he lifted the lid to the septic tank, all we heard was thunk, thunk, thunk..."

Doug takes a moment to settle his laughter; he is enjoying this as much as we are.

"My neighbor was running around closing all the windows as fast as he could."

More laughter as we think about this poor guy, with a sensitive nose, running around trying to block out the smell.  Can you imagine how extra potent it would be lifting the lid off of a sewage container on a very hot and humid day?

NASTY!

Doug waits a few moments for the laughter to subside.  

"Now imagine if we could open up our hearts and look inside.  What sort of crap and excrement would we find?  How bad would it smell?"

You could hear a pin drop.  As guys, we carry our burdens.  We lock them away from our friends, our wives and even God.  We think we can control it and manage it.  We try to reason with ourselves that like a septic tank, it is best to keep the lid on it.  

We are all carrying a septic tank inside of us.  It will fill up.  It will turn foul.  It doesn't just go away.

What do we think would happen if we did open our hearts and exposed the nastiness to the world?  Would we discover that we had neighbors with sensitive noses who run away?  Or would we discover that we have friends with overalls willing to dig into the excrement of our hearts?

Jesus is always wearing His overalls.

The talk ended and we were all very challenged.  A little later in the day, a smell began to permeate the room.  

Now ladies, while we were in a room full of guys on a retreat, the stench was not coming from the guys. It was coming from the bathrooms in the room beside us.  The septic system wasn't working!  

Coincidence?  I think not.  Another example of a "Confirming Circumstance".

The day continued, and we heard a back-hoe (tractor) digging a hole just outside the room we were in.  After we finished, we walked outside to find the tank and pipes exposed.  There was a blockage; none of the crap was getting through.  

A church friend, Kelvin, who played a pivotal role in "The Reluctant Attendee", was one of the first to go and investigate. 

Later that evening, we had chapel time.  The discussion and imagery of the septic system came back up.  We were challenged to clean it out. To invite Jesus, with His overalls, to step into the mess with us and clear the blockage.  

There was a lot of cleaning done that night.  

As we dealt with the filth at our own pace, we slowly left the chapel.

Towards the end of the time, Kelvin got up to leave but he hadn't completed the cleaning.  Before he could leave, Doug (the speaker) asked to speak with him.  

"Kelvin, I need to tell you something.  My talk today was not going to be about fly farts.  God told me to tell that story today and He told me you needed to hear it.  He wants you to open the lid of your heart and let Him get rid of what’s blocking your relationship with Him. Why won’t you just let God love you?"

Kelvin invited the guy with the overalls in to help him clean out the crap.  

Do you have a friend with overalls?  Do you let Him in?

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Thank you for taking the time to read one of the many Wandering Thoughts that God has been putting on my heart. If this has touched you in anyway, I would love to hear from you. You can leave a comment below and share your own personal revelations; or send me a personal message on Google+ or Facebook.

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Have a wonderful day.