When the mop bucket dumps out

I decided to wait until almost time for prayer meeting to start before I came to clean the church. I was trying to save gas so I figured if I came a couple hours before church started id get done just in time, and would kill two birds with one stone. As I was pushing the cleaning cart to put it away, the mop handle got hung in the doorway somehow and the mop bucket dumped out all over the floor! I picked up the bucket and ran to grab a towel to soak it up. By the time I got back the water had spread over the carpet about 6 feet. I looked at the clock and saw that it was about 45 minutes before time for the service to start! I didn’t know what to do. The towel I grabbed from the nursery (which was actually a changing table cover) wasn’t doing the job. People were starting to show up. Boy was I embarrassed! We found a shopvac and I started sucking up the water as fast as I could. It was not working as fast as I wanted it to. More and more people began to come and the clock was quickly approaching 7 o clock! To make things worse, the spill was right smack in the middle of the doorway leading into the sanctuary. As I stood there sucking the water out of the carpet people were walking past me asking what happened. Some asked if the roof was leaking. I felt so humiliated as I told each person who asked that I had dumped the mop bucket over. I’m sure no one gave it another thought but as I stood there in the middle of the doorway with that shopvac I felt as if all eyes were on me! How could I have been so clumsy? Why did this have to happen right before the service? These were some of the thoughts running through my mind. The carpet took about a week to dry and then left a big water stain that I had to look at each time I walked into the sanctuary. I felt like that big stain in the middle of the floor was the main church conversation. I was so glad when the carpets got shampooed a few weeks later. I can now walk through those doors without feeling like an idiot.

A month or so later I was pushing the cleaning cart down the hall to put it away again. Can you believe that the mop bucket dumped out AGAIN? This time it wasn’t on carpet, thank the Lord! It wasn’t on a church night and no people were around, the Lord spared me from that humiliation. I couldn’t believe this had happened to me again! “You have got to be kidding” I said to myself! I was done cleaning and ready to go and splash…there I was standing in a puddle of water again! I had to laugh as I was mopping the water up! The Lord does have a sense of humor. I know he was laughing with me as I wondered why this mop bucket keeps dumping out on me!

You know, sometimes the mop bucket in our lives dumps out! We don’t expect it. We are just strollin along pushing the cart of our life when all of a sudden it happens! You get a flat tire on your way to work, or the refrigerator stops working right after you buy a months’ worth of groceries. What do you do when things happen for no apparent reason? Your day is going fine and the next thing you know you lose your wallet or the toilet runs over. These things may seem unbearable when they happen but what about when the bucket dumps on the carpet and leaves a stain? Maybe your child commits a crime that puts him in jail or you lose your baby in a miscarriage. Life is fine and all of a sudden the doctor calls you with bad results. Maybe your husband leaves you for another woman and you go through a painful divorce…As people walk by you feel as though all eyes are on you. You feel the embarrassment as you wonder how this happened! The stain remains even after you dry the water up with the shopvac! When the mop bucket dumps out, it makes s big mess. You try your best to clean it up but it still takes awhile to dry. Sometimes you have to look at the stain for awhile. One thing I know for sure is that there is nothing you can  do when the bucket dumps out except dry it up and go on! It doesn’t do any good to stand in the puddle wondering how it happened. It might be humiliating to dry it up as people walk by looking at you, but don’t worry what they think. Pick the bucket up and get on with your life! Don’t waste time worrying about something you can’t change! God is working everything out for your good if you are his child! Ask him to show you what he wants you to learn from the tragedy and move on!  If you don’t know the Lord…my friend, I have some good news for you! Jesus Christ came to wash the stain away! It doesn’t matter what you have done, he died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins! If you believe he died and rose again, you can be saved! Ask him to come into your heart and forgive you for your sins. He loves you and wants to give you eternal life in Heaven!

There may be a time in your life when your mop bucket dumps out  and makes a big mess!You can either stand there feeling hopeless in the puddle… or you can dry up the water the best you can and trust that God will eventually clean the carpet of your life and take the stain away!  
Psalm 34:19
Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all
Psalm 57:1
Be merciful to me O God be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge until these calamities be overpast.
Psalm 118:24
This is the day that the Lord hath made, we will be glad and rejoice in it