What's That Smell?

I got glasses in the 3rd grade and  I'm pretty sure when I go to get new contacts I'm going to need a stronger prescription. And my hearing is not so great. Josh knows that exactly 4.6 minutes into a movie I'm going to ask him to turn up the volume. But, let me tell you, where my senses really excel is in my sense of smell. It is amazing, if I do say so myself. And when I was pregnant, y'all, I could smell unpopped popcorn when I walked in the door of the grocery store. I could also smell ravioli in the can and maybe one time bought an entire case and then only ate 1 can and got sick and Josh had to eat the rest and will never eat ravioli again. But, I digress. So, yes, I was blessed with a big nose and a strong sense of smell. Which also has it's downside when you live with boys and dogs. Yes, boys are stinkier. My son could knock out an army of trained men with the removal of his shoes, I am not kidding. And bless his heart, he got my sense of smell. We're like a couple of basset hounds. We walk in somewhere and immediately start sniffing, asking, "What's that smell?"

Anyway, I tell you all of that because  I read a verse that I know I've read before, but it really stuck with me today. It was one of those times where I read the verse and the words spoke to me in a new way. 2 Corinthians 2:14 says, "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place." I think fragrance is a pretty word, do you? Like faith, hope, love, joy, peace. Those words just look pretty to me, I guess because they represent such beautiful things. So, I decided to look up what that word meant. In the Old Testament Hebrew the word is Reyach and it is defined as: scent, fragrance, aroma, odour.. I don't think odor is a pretty word. Ya know? It immediately makes me think of locker rooms and foot fungus. But the last part of the definition is: odour of soothing (technical term for sacrifice to God). [Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius, "Hebrew Lexicon entry for Reyach". "The NAS Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon".]

Odour of soothing. Soothing is another word I like. And I'm no Bible or Hebrew scholar and would normally never bust out anything on this blog that requires citation, but this today, it got my attention. You see, we have a couple of friends who are big believers in essential oils. Are y'all familiar with them? Apparently they are good for EVERYTHING and they are especially good for soothing. Over the last few weeks it has been like an infirmary in my house. This time of year always is. Weather changes. The viruses come. Sometimes I wish we could all just hibernate through the month of October. But, we can't. And there are fevers and aches and runny noses. This year really hasn't been as bad as years past, mostly I'm sure because we have built up an immune system of greatness after Kate went to pre-school with 53 other children and I started working at a daycare. But, still enough sickness to miss church and school and work. And our sweet friends have wanted us to benefit from the oils. So, they've brought us samples. They have been incredibly generous and we've tried it all. There is one called "Serenity" and it has lavender which is good for fevers and calming you and making you sleepy. I am not even kidding there was a night I was rubbing that stuff on my kids and throwing it in their baths and tossing it around like it was holy water at an exorcism. (You may have to be a mom in a house with sick kids to understand that.) And it really did help. But then my friend had a talk with me and explained it only takes a very little drop. :)  Anyway, my friend also loaned us a diffuser to put some oils in to help with Kate's allergies and it was AMAZING. My house smelled like peppermint and we toted that thing all over the house, wherever we were going to be until Kate went to bed. The smell filled the bedroom and even overflowed into the hallway. It made me happy.

So, when I read that verse today about us being the diffusers of the fragrance of Christ, I couldn't help but think about our experience recently. I thought about how when I applied the oil to the bottom of one of my children's feet, it helped that child. But, when I had the diffuser, we all benefited. Anyone who walked into the room the diffuser was in immediately absorbed the benefits of lavender and peppermint. And I can't help but think of what a beautiful illustration that is for us as God's children. When we have the Holy Spirit, it should change us. It should heal our hearts and change our thoughts. But it is never just for us. We are the diffusers, carrying the knowledge of Jesus. And sometimes it seems easy for some to let that knowledge be like a foul odor of anger, hatred and judgment. But right there, in 2 Corinthians, it tells us that it should be a soothing fragrance. Whether we are offering love and encouragement to those who already know Him, or if we are offering hope for a new life for those who don't. Either way, we should remember that we are being used to diffuse His fragrance. And it should be a soothing one to those around us.