Do you paint over your problems?

Do you ever ignore a problem and hope it just miraculously goes away without really addressing it? Maybe just paint over it?

My daughter has a mold issue in her apartment. Black mold, in fact. The maintenance person confirmed there is no current leak then paints over the mold and calls it a day. It looks alright from a distance but the mold is still there. The ceilings and walls are still saturated with water, collecting more and more fungus and slowly destroying the drywall from the inside out. The only permanent solution is to properly remediate.

It’s easy to ignore a problem when you can no longer see it but the residual impact is often worse than the initial cause. In this situation, the mold is being hidden behind a new coat of paint but the problem is growing worse under the surface.

It makes me think about my own version of mold that might be lying inside of me. Areas I have been ignoring or even forgotten are lying just under the surface wreaking havoc. I can try to paint over my issues with positivity, gratitude, and wishful thinking but they are slowly causing damage beneath the surface. A closer look and proper diagnosis of my sin is necessary to begin the healing process.

In the case of the apartment, residual water from a previous leak is what is causing the damage. Proper remediation would include drying it out, pulling out the wet drywall, sanitizing the area, new drywall, and THEN paint. Proper resolution tends to cause things to get worse before it gets better. It’s a lot of work to remediate properly and sometimes we just don’t have the time or energy for all of that.

The question for myself is whether I am ready to do the work necessary to properly identify and repair the hidden mold that is silently growing in my life?

Questions

Can you identify any areas in your life that need cleansing?

Are you ready to do the work required to dig underneath the surface?

Scripture

“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is a sin.” James 4:17

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

“Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!” Psalm 51:2