Mud Remover

‘Tis the season for mud here in the thawing north country.

No less than four vehicles were stuck in my driveway this week, and the drabness of pre-spring below matches the grey sleet clouds above.

But, today, I saw a robin, and ice still sparkles when the light shines on it. 

My family has really enjoyed Randall Goodgame’s newly released “Scripture Hymnal,” and one of the Scriptures he set to music is Psalm 34:4-5: “I sought the Lord, and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.”

I hummed it as I contemplated a muddy puddle, and I was delighted to discover that the word “radiant” in the Hebrew means “to sparkle” like light playing on the top of a flowing stream.

Sometimes, the shame of my sin and perversion makes me think that others can read it like mud smeared on my face. I cannot hide it. It bogs me down. It keeps me from knowing the fullness of joy. It makes me want to hide in a muddy hole.

This week, I also cleaned out the drain in my shower. I will spare you the gruesome details, but it reminded me of the work of ministry, helping others navigate the ugliness and shame of sin. I had the drain tool, black, twisted, and spiky, in one hand and really wished I had grabbed a glove for the other before beginning. But once you have your hands dirty in ministry, it’s too late to separate yourself from the ugly reality of sin.

But then, today, I saw the robin, and the Lord lead me to a mud puddle that had the sparkling radiance of ice floating atop it, bringing Psalm 34 to mind.

Author Dorothy Sayers wrote, “Believers in Christ expect to be saved, not from danger and suffering, but in danger and suffering… beneath the coruscations of their joy, the blackness and squalor of the pit open and run down to the center.”

I had to look up “coruscations.” Merriam-Webster says it means “glitter, sparkle, flash.” Sparkling, again.

The radiance that God supplies for us doesn’t just cover over our shame, however. It removes and replaces it. Because we look to Him, the muddy shame is gone, and we sparkle, like ice crystals reflecting His light. 

Jesus never intended for His disciples to wallow in the mud of our own sin, the sin of others, or the sin of the world. Instead, He commands us to look to Him for mud remover so that we can reflect His radiance to a weary world- even in the midst of mud season.