The Mess in the Mirror
We all know what a mess looks like. It might exist in your garage, it might be the food thrown all over the place by the baby or it might be a muddy infield from last night’s rain. But it isn’t easy for us to come to terms with this fact–each of us is dirty, disorganized and out of sorts in some way. Sometimes we create the mess in our life, sometimes we inherit it and sometimes we fall into it. And like every mess, ours needs to be put back in order. God knows about our messiness. We must admit our messes and understand God will put us back together.
Best Mess Ever
Most of us have messed up so badly at some point in our life that it may have left us believing God wants nothing to do with us. But when we admit we’ve messed up, we are a prime candidate for an encounter with Jesus. In fact, He gravitates toward those who are typically ignored, ridiculed, hated and rejected. We live in a culture that teaches us to hide our messes and call them anything except the sins they are. Jesus is not intimidated by our sin. He sees beyond our failures and forgives us when we confess our sin. We can’t do anything so bad to cause God to love us less.
Inside Out
Life is a marathon in which sin and darkness weigh us down. Jesus promises us freedom, breaking those chains of sin and darkness. He never promises us lives without pain and loss, but he does promise us freedom, which will break all chains of sin. Jesus promises us everlasting life when we continually “seek first the kingdom of God….” (Matthew 6:33) We cannot avoid the messes of life even when we follow Jesus, but these messes help to form and mold us into Godly people.
Move Toward the Mess
Is there a limit to what you would do for your children? Your grandchildren? A dear friend? Is there anything you wouldn’t do for them? How about the couple you barely know who live down the street? How about the person in front of you in line at the grocery? Luke 10:27 says to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” What does that tell us to do? To one lady in our community, it meant giving a kidney to her friend. To one member, it means possibly giving bone marrow to a stranger. For others, it means using their skills to help others receive needed medical treatment. Most importantly, what does it tell you to do?
Messy-er
Most events on live TV have a seven second delay, which allows censors to bleep inappropriate content. Wouldn’t it be great to have a seven second delay on things we say, text, email, post or tweet? Our first reaction, especially when dealing with a messy situation, rarely makes things better. Usually, things get worse because we react with anger, envy, pride or selfishness. Counting to ten before speaking is still a pretty good idea, although now it may be more useful to say count to ten before hitting send.