From Kevin Funk…

Some of you who are reading this may already know that I have a sinkhole in my backyard. For those who don’t, I have a sinkhole in my backyard. Now don’t worry, the opening is only about 3′ by 5′ and about 10′ deep. However, it is pretty close to our foundation. I always thought of those holes as a myth or something that would or could ever happen in central Illinois.

A few days ago I walked out of the back of our home to get the mower out of the shed. I just happened to glance to my left just to see a dark area in the yard. At first I thought I was just seeing things. But as I walked towards this hole, it became deeper and deeper. Reality just set in. There is a stinkin’ sinkhole in our backyard! My knees became weak as I peeked over the ledge. What? How? When? Ok God, this is not funny. I was just out here yesterday to fetch something out of the shed and there was not even a dent in the yard. Something had to have caused this. Well, we believe that there is a city storm drain that runs directly beneath our house and down to a creek.  This storm drain has collapsed and allowed our yard to sink in.

God revealed to me as I was thinking about our hole that sinkholes in the earth can be like sinkholes in our spiritual lives. Everything on the surface might look good, but there is something inside or way down deep that is causing things to erode. The sinkhole was the end result of weeks or years of erosion. The act of adultery or the end of a lifelong friendship due to gossip is the end result of sin that isn’t dealt with over a long period of time. Nobody just decides one day to wake up and murder someone.  We don’t just say, you know what, I think today is the day I’m going to alter my taxes because “they owe me”.

Just like that drainage pipe that cracked and broke over the years, our sin is a slow fade to death if we don’t turn away and repent from that which is apart from the will of God. Maybe some of you don’t even know that you’re sinning. That’s a scary thought.  Well how do we find out? By asking God on a daily basis to bring whatever sin out of darkness and into the light of Jesus. John 8:12 Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

Can I just say that pretending to have nothing wrong is a ton harder to manage (and stressful) than to admit that we need help. The more we try to keep it together on the outside, the more erosion takes place on the inside. Psalm 139:23, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.”

Continually ask God to seek out the impurities in our hearts so we can serve Him to the capacity of what He wants us to.