What a MESS!

We had company this weekend. Scotty's mom and sister came to visit and with them came "the cousins". Scotty's sister, Christy, has three children also. AND... she has two boys and a little girl. Our children have always LOVED their time with the cousins. And, no matter how long we get to spend with them, it's never enough.

It's so fun to watch all of them interact and to see that, while they're each so different, they can pair off into very similar groups. The oldest brother of each family LOVES sports. In fact, they seem pretty sure that's the most important thing in life. The middle two are the clowns. They really enjoy making us laugh. And, the youngest two are complete girly girls!

This weekend, our visit was short. We had planned a day out when they arrived, but our schedule didn't work out as planned. But, they didn't seem to mind spending the evening at our house with games and toys. The girls seemed especially thrilled about this schedule change. We were home no less than 15 minutes when every toy that Claire has in her room seemed to be spilled out all over the floor. I wish I had taken a picture, because the only reaction to the chaos would be, "What a mess!"

Now, I LOVE for toys to be played with. Sometimes I hate to put away games or toys too carefully, because then it seems they get forgotten. It makes me happy to see my children using their imaginations and playing with the toys that are in their rooms. But, what I find so interesting is that Claire never has trouble getting TO the toys and pulling them out. Once they're out, though, she CAN NOT put them away. Without some guidance, she's completely overwhelmed by the mess. She doesn't even know where to start in cleaning it up.

It has dawned on me that there is such spiritual application there. Most of us can make a mess of things, circumstances, situations pretty easily. Sometimes, we can even enjoy the mess for a little while. When Claire is in the middle of her toys all strewn over the room, it feels wonderful to her. Everything she wants right at her fingertip. Until she realizes she can't walk around. Or, she can't find anything. At that point, she wants a clean room. NOW. But, how does she do it?

Aren't there times in our lives that we know we're living in a mess; however, we're enjoying it a little too much to worry with cleaning it up. The problem is that, as believers, there will come a time when we're unhappy in the mess. We WILL want to have a "clean house" again. But, we've made such a mess, we don't know where to start in cleaning it up. In fact, none of our human tactics will even put a dent in the mess.

At that point, I think we are wise to do exactly what Claire does in that moment. She calls for a parent. In her chaos, she at least remembers that there IS someone who knows exactly what to do with the mess. She will look to Scotty or me to begin cleaning it up.

Several Sundays ago, we heard a message on the messes that sin creates. When we find ourselves in one of life's messes, we can call on our Heavenly parent to help us out of the mess. Romans 5: 20-21 says,

"The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more so that, just as sin reigned in death (the mess), so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

What these verses speak to me is that in the mess of sin is death. We feel dead. We are almost in a state of paralysis in our mess not knowing what to do next. And, I believe these verses are telling us to call out to God and let Him show us how HIS grace has completely covered the mess. We can't do it on our own. But, where sins abounds, grace abounds more and more. And, HIS grace is ENOUGH!

Why is it so hard for us to admit that we've made a mess? Why is it that we feel better about ourselves if we cautiously admit our mess ups with reasons and explanations to follow? I wonder if we (I'm including myself for good reason) may not trust that God's grace REALLY IS enough. It sounds as if we may be qualifying our sin out of fear that parts of the sin are covered by grace but the root of that sin may be just beyond the reach of God's grace. And, where is the comfort in that?

A couple of quotes from a sermon I heard a few weeks ago have stuck with me. I wish I could remember the speaker's name to give him credit. :(  He said,

"There is no ditch you can dig that God's grace can't fill."

Has anyone else ever felt so hopeless in a situation that you could actually picture yourself down in a giant ditch with no way out. Absolutely nothing can separate us from the love that God has for us. But, we have to reach up/out and receive it. FULLY! Otherwise, we always carry with us guilt, shame, or fear.... BONDAGE to sin. And, we weren't made for that. We were made for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Frequently, I come in contact with people that seem almost angered by this gospel of grace. These people seem much more comfortable speaking of the God that is our Judge (I believe that He is). They seem to fear that too much "grace talk" might make believers feel freedom to sin. The next verses in Romans speak to this fear...

"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase. By no means! We died to sin. How can we live in it any longer?" Romans 6: 1-2

If you've lived in sin for any amount of time, and you are a believer, you know what Paul is describing. That paralysis that Claire feels right in the middle of her mess when she doesn't know what to do next is what I think believers "stuck" in sin feel like. It's death to them. And, when they experience the full grace pouring from the Father over their situation and freeing them from the mess, I believe that they understand this next quote that I HAD to write in my Bible.

"Just because the faucet of grace continues running, being careless with it still leaves a MESS!"

A mess!

What does your mess look like? How long has it been since you were in the middle of a mess? Or, how has someone else's mess created havoc in your world?

We HAVE to call it what it is. We can't sweep it under the rug anymore. There's no healing there. There's no freedom. But, in bringing it to the surface, we get to EXPERIENCE God's goodness. There is GREAT JOY in His goodness. Our need demonstrates clearly that only HE can meet that need. Only HE can meet us where we are and carry us into something better. And, once we're all cleaned up, we realize that TRUE JOY comes when we live in the boundaries of God's path for our lives. Our mess serves to remind us that the trappings of this world are just that.... a trap! Hopefully, we leave our "bath" in God's grace certain that NOTHING else compares to LIFE in Him.