We had our septic tank emptied which we thought would give us full use of the downstairs toilet again. However, it seems septic tanks can quickly become full again after emptying. But, four days? That’s a tad too rapid!

Septic tanks hold waste and are really cleverly designed things. Waste goes in and, as the tank fills, liquid feeds to an additional chamber and, eventually, runs away. At its optimum it’s a genuinely impressive piece of engineering.

Bacteria is good for us. Honest!

Bacteria is something we don’t like to think of.

We have a generation of children growing up with parents taught to fear bacteria with anti-bacterial wipes, sprays and even anti-bacterial supermarket trolley handles. However, bacteria is also one of God’s great designs and doesn’t deserve the bad rap it gets! In fact, in a septic tank, we should be rolling the red carpet out and celebrating bacteria, because it is critical to processing that waste. You can thank me later for that image of a bacteria excitedly leaping with joy into a septic tank 🤣

Cleaning toilets with bleach is even worse than disinfectant – if you have a septic tank. It kills off that wonderfully helpful bacteria that you want, and that you need. Hand soap, dishwasher tablets, washing up liquid – and more – can all lead to making it feel very unwelcome. And our emotional and mental well-being (yes I’m going there 😊) is much like that septic tank!

Rubbish comes into our lives and needs processing

When things are working well that rubbish gets processed just fine, over time. If too much rubbish arrives, too quickly, processing that rubbish doesn’t happen rapidly enough and our mental health can deteriorate.

Romans 5 verse 3 helps us understand why too much effort spent cleaning may not be beneficial:

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

When we kill off every piece of bacteria around us, we lower our ability to fight off basic bugs. Yes, it’s really wise to keep kitchen surfaces clean if you’ve just chopped some raw chicken. But, there really is such a thing as too clean – it’s all about balance, just like anything else in life.

Killing / avoiding / preventing all difficulties can be equally damaging to us too in the long term.

Daily life can be hard!

We need to build up a healthy resistance to bacteria, which means using disinfectant spray sparingly. It also means teaching our children how to protect themselves by learning ways to deal with difficulties, in addition to protecting them from things they don’t yet have the maturity to understand.

Protect people from dangers they don’t see, yes – absolutely! But don’t neglect teaching others how to spot, and process, those same dangers.

As Romans 5 points out those difficulties help develop our character, so that we can experience the hope of Jesus Christ.

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