Fan or Foe?

I am a fan of fans. (My fantasy football username is novelfan.) However, the fans I love the most right now are household fans that make hot, humid, Michigan summers bearable.  The steady hum of a fan settles me. The soft breeze cools and refreshes me without shocking my system. I find that drastic temperature changes cause nagging headaches. I find fans extremely beneficial.

Last week, one of the fans in our house became my foe. Every time I looked at it, I shivered with disgust.  It was one filthy fan. When I walked by my foe I could feel it blasting me with dirt bullets loaded with germs.  I could not help but think the fan was doing more harm than good. My husband and eldest son told me it was useless. It was decision time, I could:

• Let it keep throwing filth -- this would put my family's health at risk. As a mother doing nothing was NOT an option I was willing to consider.
• Throw it out -- I have a hope-filled heart that sees the potential in everything. I was not going to throw away the fan that still had the ability to create a breeze.
• Hide it under the bed (just kidding) I meant basement--I could try to hide the problem in the basement, but that would just make me a hoarder with a monster of a mess.
• Clean it -- if I didn't want to be pelleted with filth- get rid of the filth.

I grabbed the fan, a screwdriver, a scrub brush, paper towel, and a can of air and took them out to the back porch. Dirt belongs outside so I was going to put it back where it belongs. I removed the protective front and back cage and scrubbed like crazy.  I carefully cleaned the fan blades and discovered another problem. The design of fan blades is intentional and essential to their engineering. The blades on my fan were damaged from striking something as they spun. I carefully cut a new smooth edge for each blade. I used the can of air to force the dust away from the motor.  My reassembled fan rediscovered it's refreshing purpose. 

Even now I am enjoying the cool breeze of that very fan, with no thought of dodging dirt.  I love fans for a reason that runs deeper than the summer heat. Fans remind me that when I am feeling exhausted and unproductive I can be refreshed by the breath of God. Fans also remind me of my purpose.

Like a fan, I can spread dirt and germs, or I can help people remember that God will refresh their souls. I have to make the choice, which like cleaning a fan requires more work than expected.

•  I need to allow God to take away cages I have put up to protect myself and scrub them clean of misconceptions, miscommunications, prejudices, suppositions, and expectations.
• Then I need to repent of the sins that I have accepted as just a part of who I am, like wiping the blades clean.  
• Next is probably the most painful, but important part of the process.  I, like my fan blade, was intentionally designed in a special way that is essential for fulfilling my purpose.  I cannot carry out my purpose of loving God and loving people when I hang onto the wounds of offense.  I need to allow God to trim away or heal my damaged parts.
•  The puff of air is a whisper from the Word:  John 14:15-17. 

 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you." (italics mine).

 Loving God means loving people and He gives us the Holy Spirit to help. Once we allow God to clean us up we can refresh others with His love.

We can choose to be a fan or foe.