Rust … Is Ugly!

            I will never forget my first ten speed mountain bike.  It was pink and gray speckled, with handle bars that went straight, instead of looking like the horns of an antelope!  This bike really was something.  My dad and I had spent a full day pressing little colorful neon decorations onto each spoke.  While riding my bike, I could hear them clank up and down, while spinning round and round uncontrollably.  Cool was an understatement…for this bike.  Unfortunately, I left it out in the rain one too many times.  It truly was a sad day when I went outside only to find that my shiny spokes of silver were now shades of brown, red, and orange, colors that definitely did not enhance my bright neon spoke decorations.  My treasured ten speed was not so cool anymore…my bike spokes were ruined.

            A bit more recently, my husband and I were spending the day with some friends.  Their little boy was outside playing in the rain when he dashed through the door to unfold his tiny, muddied hand dropping a palm sized dump truck right onto the table.  “Mommy, this one has metal and it can’t be in the rain!”  From a lesson learned in the bath tub, he remembered that metal toys and water do not mix.  The result can be rusty toys that are no longer worth playing with.  

He understood that rust can ruin something special to him, and he wasn’t taking any chances…

            Rusting is a process that takes time to develop.  One small droplet of moisture reacts with oxygen in the air and causes a chemical reaction to steel and iron.  Over time, an acid is formed from dirt/dust mixing with the chemical reaction, which eats away at the metal, ultimately forming… ugly rust!  

Have you ever had anything ruined by rust?

            I started to think about how our hearts, intentions, and attitudes often seem clean and shiny.  When we are treated right and everything is going how we want it to, it’s easy to have that appearance. Then, one droplet of soggy hurt after another, and we begin to tarnish with layers of fear, anger, and bitterness. The longer we hold on to the hurt, or whatever it was that offended us, the closer we get to irreversible rusting.  What happens is something like this; I used to get stuck in self-pity.  The ‘poor me’ game in my head, often overwhelmed my heart.  Before I knew it, my self-pity turned into blame, which turned into un-forgiveness.  Before long, I was in cruise control taking strolls down Envy Dr., Bitter Blvd., and Anger Ave., only to come to a screeching halt on Whoa-is-Me Lane!  What started as a way to talk myself through a hurt or injustice done to me, ended up keeping me in a whirl-wind of ‘someone owes me something’ bad attitudes and negative outlooks.  Left like this too long and rust takes over permanently- or the hurt becomes the attitude, and the attitude becomes the person. We often convince ourselves it’s just who we are, when really it is what we let our lives, circumstances, undealt-with hurts, and feelings determine who we will be.  When you allow your hurt to cause you to be dishonest with yourself or others, you harbor bitterness and let ugly rust form on your heart. This is dangerous, but reversible.

Rust can be prevented.

            When dealing with actual rust, the most obvious prevention is to avoid moisture.  When dealing with the rust we let form on our hearts, there is a measure of prevention that is 100% effective yet often unused.  Honesty & Forgiveness. Normally, there is a ‘someone’ who did ‘something’ that caused an initial hurt.  If we never forgive that person, they stay with us all day long in our minds.  Replaying the offense in our heads, we bring them to breakfast, lunch, dinner and then right into bed with us because we think so much about the hurt they caused.  The longer we hold on, the more time we give for rust to take over.  But, if we forgive and truly let go of the hurt, piece by piece and layer by layer, we begin to see ugly rust lose its grip on our hearts and emotions.  We have to be honest about the hurt, even if it is one that we caused ourselves.  Sometimes the hardest person to forgive is the one that looks back at you in the mirror.

Don’t let rust ruin what’s valuable.

            The little boy knew that rust could ruin his prized dump truck, so he took precautionary measures.  Similarly, we need to know that rust, or not being forgiving, can ruin what is most valuable to us- our well-being and our relationships.  Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends (Proverbs 17:9).  Hopefully, we too can protect that which is valuable by utilizing honesty and forgiveness- preventive measures that truly work.  If rust is allowed to develop over a lengthy period of time, it can take ten times that amount of time, to get rid of it.  In the long run, we only hurt ourselves and miss out on the good in this life when we hold onto pain.  Thankfully, the Lord is good, ready to forgive, full of unfailing love…for ANYONE who asks for help (Psalm 86:5).  We can trust that the Lord will forgive us, help us to forgive, and ultimately clean the rust off of our hearts if we ask Him too (1 John 1:9).   “I’m sorry,” starts with I, and “I forgive you” starts with I too.  It is a personal choice.

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:31-32

‘Dump Cake’!

Because of the dump truck that caused me to think on rust, I offer this incredibly easy and interchangeable recipe.

1 package white cake mix (or preferable flavor) 1 package instant turtle pudding mix (Try any pudding mix) 4 eggs, beaten 2/3 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup white sugar 1/3 cup water 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (Can add extras; heath, coconut, peanuts etc.)

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour a Bundt pan.
2.	In a bowl, mix the white cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, vegetable oil, sugar, and water. Gently fold in the sour cream and chocolate chips. Pour batter into the prepared Bundt pan.
3.	Bake in the preheated oven for 55 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before transferring to cooling racks