Strange Smells

Photo credit: Loadmaster (David  R  Tribble) Creative Commons 3.0

It was a couple of weeks ago while on holiday with some family and friends I so happened to overhear a conversation. It went something like this:

"Last night there was a funny smell in our room"
(Giggle)
"No, not that kind of smell! It smelt like fish"
"That's strange"
"So I told Sue about it and she asked if I had checked the electrical things in our room as an old type of plastic (Bakelight) can smell like fish when it is burning. So I checked the light fitting and sure enough it was a little melted on one side. So don't use the light in that room until it is fixed"

Well, this was an answer to a question my wife and I had been searching for for years! You see, every now and then a funny smell occurs in the cupboard under our staircase. It smells like fish. We have searched high and low for the source of the smell. We have emptied the cupboard a few times looking for the dead creature that may be causing the smell. We had searched for leaks and rising damp. But still the mysterious smell would come and go. In the end we have resorted to buying air fresheners and had given up on finding the source of the smell, settling to just trying to cover it up instead.

When I overheard the conversation a light went on in my head. Our fuse box is located in the cupboard under the stairs and it is made of old Bakelight plastic! So now we know the source of the bad smell. We have already called the electrician and he is coming round next week.

Sometimes in our lives we can smell a bad smell. There is something not right, sin lingering where it should not be.

Often the Holy Spirit identifies an area that needs to be addressed, but other times it is through others that an area of sin may be identified. It may be through a sermon, a casual conversation, a direct challenge or something you overhear. You start to smell a bad smell, but you can't identify the source until someone else points you in the right direction. Suddenly a light comes on in your head and you see where you have been going wrong and what needs to change. Then you can call in the electrician - ask God for help, guidance and forgiveness.

Have you got some old Bakelight plastic smouldering away in your life? Is there a strange smell under the staircase? If so, it might be time to stop trying to cover it up with air fresheners and time to call in the electrician!