The Step Ladder

The Step Ladder
Carol Condon
carolcondon5@aol.com

Dust seemed to settle everywhere. Wasn’t it just yesterday that I had cleaned? Apparently not, because when I visited the calendar I could see that it had been days ago. From the windows to the baseboards there was ample dust to go around. Even the blades of the ceiling fan had been affected and seemed to say, “Have mercy on me!” Denial would not work. A thorough day of cleaning was a must.

As music began to swirl around me I hummed along as I cleaned surface after surface. There was plenty to do that was just within my reach, but if I were to finish I would have to reach beyond what was directly in front of me. So, I worked my way toward the windows.

I raised the blinds to make them more accessible to me. I aimed the spray of Windex reaching to the top and following through to the bottom of each windowsill. Grabbing the paper towels I reached toward the top of the first window when I realized that the upper portion was just out of my reach. It was easy to see that I needed some assistance. I made a visit to our garage and brought in the stepladder. From the rungs of the ladder I reached forward and the dust of yesterday was wiped away.

How often do we find similar challenges in this journey of life? Our lives become so busy and complicated as we fit as much as possible or is it impossible in it. Day after day we have good intentions but soon it is time to bid one day goodbye as we welcome the gift of a new day. In doing so we become overwhelmed with the dust of life.

In order to wipe away the dust of our yesterdays we have to reach forward and many times it is just beyond our reach. That is when we have to go after the “stepladder” for some assistance. It is impossible for us to strain beyond our present circumstances without His assistance.

Philippians 3:13 NIV
13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,