Blue Peanuts

It is always so much fun to receive a package.
I wish the UPS and the Fed Ex delivery people agreed as to where they should leave our packages.
Sometimes, they are outside our laundry room door.
Sometimes, they are left near one of our garages.

We have learned to check all the doors when we are expecting a package.
There is something about seeing a box outside with your name on it.
Usually, I am waiting for whatever is inside the box.
However, once in a while something will arrive that is unexpected.

A box came a few days ago.
It was something I had been expecting to receive.
I brought the box inside and placed it on the kitchen island.
I opened it with the box cutter that is in the kitchen drawer.

There they were.
They are on my do not like list.
They are right up there with glitter.
I actually cringe when I see them.

Blue Styrofoam peanuts surrounded the item that was inside the box.
If I had known, I would have opened the box in the garage.
Lately, many things are surrounded with bubble plastic.
I haven’t received a box with Styrofoam peanuts in quite a while.

Without thinking, I grabbed some of the peanuts with my hands.
They crumbled; little pieces seem to float like snowflakes.
They clung to my shirt, my pants, and my hands.
They were nearly impossible to remove.

Every time I tried to throw them into the trash, they would fly back out again.
If it had been a movie, I might have been amused.
This was real life.
I was covered with unwanted Styrofoam peanuts.

I felt like there should have been a hidden camera.
Every time I pushed them down, they flew back up.
Every time I tried to brush them away, they stuck relentlessly to me.
I looked inside the box and saw that there were still more peanuts.

I had not even reached the item that was inside.
It seemed that the Styrofoam peanuts had a life of their own.
They were begging to be in control.
I was putting up a good fight.

After an interminably long period of time, I reached the item at the bottom of the box.
The box itself had tiny remnants of Styrofoam peanuts on the bottom.
Some were hiding underneath the flaps.
I literally groaned when I saw what the box was packed with, and now I knew why.

Later in the afternoon, I was going to have a cup of tea.
After my Irish tea brewed for a bit, I threw the tea bag away.
When the tea bag hit the trash, a piece of a Styrofoam peanut flew out and attached to my hand.
I tried to wipe it away but it would not budge.

It stuck to me like glue.
I tried unsuccessfully to use a napkin to wipe it away.
I tried to rub my hands together in order for it to fall into the trash.
No matter what I tried, the little piece of Styrofoam peanut would not detach from my hand.

It felt like when I am vacuuming and a stubborn thread will not leave the rug.
No amount of going over and over the thread will pick it up and suck it away.
So I do what many of us have done from time to time.
I pick up the thread to loosen it from the carpet and then try to vacuum it again.

Finally a damp paper towel removed the Styrofoam peanut from my hand.
Static electricity.
I was sure of it.
I needed to find out why Styrofoam peanuts were sticking to me.

Packing peanuts are insulators, which is a material or an object that does not easily allow heat, electricity, light, or sound to pass through it. An electrical charge rubs off onto them. Since they are so light, even a small amount of charge will be enough to overcome gravity when they drift near you.

That explains it.
That is why they appeared to fly out of the trash can.
That is why the damp paper towel detached the Styrofoam peanut from my hand.
Science was happening in my kitchen.

Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” – and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to You while You may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. (Psalm 32:1-7)

Unconfessed sin is like packing peanuts.
The guilt and the weight of our sin sticks to us and will not let go.
It is impossible to detach the sin from our hearts by ourselves.
We need help to release us from the hold that sin has on our lives.

Unconfessed sin is like an insulator.
It does not easily let the grace of God pass through.
It hinders the grace upon grace that is ours when we come to Him in repentance.
Our unconfessed sin will stick to us and never let go.

Until our sin disgusts us.
Until we come to Him.
Until we confess what it is that is clinging to us so relentlessly.
Until we ask for forgiveness.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sin and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Confessing our sins is the damp paper towel we need to remove the sin that is clinging to us.
Confessing our sins acts as a conductor, allowing God’s grace to flow into our lives.
God’s forgiveness releases us.
God’s forgiveness frees us from what has held us bound.

Blue Styrofoam packing peanuts.
God uses everything to teach us His truth.