All of the good stuff in life is messy: Cooking from scratch, baking, gardening, packing for vacation, art, traveling, babies and kiddos, animals, working out, eating wings or ribs or really big cupcakes and s’mores; love, relationships, friendships, family, and whatever else you’re thinking about right now.
However messy these are though, they’re equally as beautiful.
If we’re Facebook friends, you know I often share my mess publicly (ehem blue paint in carpet, dog’s head stuck in chair, scribbles on the wall or couch, and so much more). But despite the many big and small messes of life, God is working through it all. In fact, the entire Bible is filled with messy people. Cain killed his brother Abel. Sarah laughed at God when she heard she would bare a child in her old age. Elijah asked God to take his life. Even Jesus’ life: messy; He took his first breaths surrounded by animals, unwelcome in any home. One of His closest friends betrayed Him for 30 pieces of silver. And after being beaten, mocked, tortured, and hung, He was left to die. For what? For sin that He never participated in. Yet, out of love, He willingly offered Himself up to the Father for each one of us so that we could be justified, or declared righteous, in the eyes of God.
My friend, you may feel like you’re too messy for God. Or that you’ve made too many bad decisions, but the truth is: Apart from God, we are a mess. However, in Him, there is beauty in our mess not because of anything we’ve done, but because everything He’s done. If you’re reading this and you’re still thinking you have no clue what I’ve done. You’re right. I don’t. But that’s the past, and Jesus said, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). You cannot live in those mistakes. But you can look forward to what the future holds for you when you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Paul wrote in Romans 8:1-2 “...there is NO condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to Him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.” Before you go on, if you don’t know what condemn means, Google it.
In Jesus, there is no death. You’re not too messy for God. Your sin is not too much for Jesus to bear. And truthfully, when we trust in Him and share His love with others through our testimony, there is more beauty that comes from our story than the mess we live in.
Friend, I am praying that if you haven’t yet put your faith in Jesus, that you will do that. If you have put your faith in Him, I am praying for our messes. I am praying that we see the beauty in the struggle and that the suffering we all face here pulls us closer to Him. I'm praying for His guidance, comfort, and peace for all of us in this hurting, messy world. We’re in this together, figuring it out one day at time. In the words of Paul, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Sending big hugs to you!
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