“The dishes won’t go away until you approach the sink” – Devon Bailey
It is said that hurt people hurt people. When does it end? When do we stand in the mirror, face our demons, and take it upon ourselves to heal generational wounds? It starts with me; it starts with you. The burdens carried on the broken backs of our ancestors are not meant for us to carry. When will someone put it down? Will it be passed on like Umqombothi until everyone has had a sip? We see history repeating itself as everyone ‘forcibly’ takes a dip in the heartache drenching the souls of those who came before us. I’ll say it again, it’s not for us!
The grudges and unforgiveness, the pain and resentment, the bitterness covered in sweet smiles, the screaming of internal cries are eventually revealed by...
The truth in your eyes, the sadness in your smize, the desperation in your whys and the insecurity in your tries.
Don’t you realise? We need to wash the dishes, so our descendants find a clear sink. Take some time to think. Life has enough dirty dishes to throw their way; the last thing they need is to have to wash those dishes with the stubborn stains of past dirt that just won’t come out.
What is this about?
It’s about understanding our worth in Christ Jesus so that we know how we’re loved and thus how to love. I maintain that love that is not of and from God, is not real love. The love of God doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t humiliate and doesn’t abuse. Our God, who knows our innermost imperfections, conceals them. He reveals to redeem. The love of God covers and heals, it convicts and strengthens. It is the only love that can restore. Truth is, we cannot break cycles that we’ve never really inspected before.
It’s about confronting the convictions of the Holy Spirit and dealing with them. It’s not about embracing and asking, “when it will end?” It’s about introspecting and healing from the inside out so that the open wounds wrapped in pretense don’t begin to shout. It is analysing and understanding generational cycles; it's time we discern them and suss them out. It’s about acknowledging your own toxic behavioural patterns that keep you trapped in the same, stale mindset. It’s no wonder that your judgement is cloudy if you’ve never let it rain. The dirty dishes are what reveals the clinched fists harbouring the pain. The words you speak tells whether your heart makes water or fire rain; whether you allow light or darkness to reign. It is the ownership and justification of toxic behaviour that marries our pain with our reactions, proving that internal struggles are not being dealt with; that dirty dishes are not being cleaned to satisfaction.
Imagine dirty dishes in the sink that haven’t been washed for years. Imagine those being the stains fueling your children’s fears and forcing their tears. Let us lookout for those to come, by being able to declare to them that the battle has been won.
But first, perhaps we ought to just step back and think, the dirty dishes won’t go away until we approach the sink…
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