MAKE YOUR MESS YOUR MESSAGE

There is not one person who has not regretted choices they made in life. No matter how hard we try, we will make mistakes and create messes. Some of those messes result from ill-conceived decisions. Other messes come from a person or situation that is not within our control. Unfortunately, messes are part of the human experience.

What is a mess? It is not just an untidy or cluttered room. Oh, if only life could be that easy to clean and organize. No, life’s messes involve a problem, trial, tribulation, grief, heartache, or suffering. A mess is a predicament, difficulty, dilemma, or problem. In the end, a mess can bring regret, which causes frustration, sadness, and disappointment.

How do we get ourselves into a mess? It is not the same for everyone; however, during my early twenties, I made choices that created messes based on what I wanted and could control. I did not seek God's counsel, His will, nor His purposes for my life. Most of us can recall messes we made, because of our own willful choices, especially in our youth when we thought we were the smartest and the brightest.

As a young child, I believed my parents were the smartest people I knew. Then I became a teenager and suddenly, I had a corner on intelligence and wisdom. From my perspective, my parents were old-fashioned and out of touch with the world.

My inflexible and narrow-minded view of life shifted in my late twenties, when it became painfully apparent that many of my decisions had created chaos in my life. With deep regret, I realized too late, that my parents had given wise counsel to help me navigate the world’s many snares that capture minds and hearts and send the inexperienced down a treacherous path, leading to failure and disappointment.

Realization that my parents’ guidance was with purpose, came after I had married a man I barely knew. Although my mother had tried to warn me, I had rejected her advice. I had made my choice and stubbornly refused to be dissuaded. Unfortunately, that choice led to three terrifying years of marriage to an abusive man. However, God has a way of redeeming our mistakes and failures when we admit we are wrong and ask for His help. Had that mess not happened, I would not have the amazing son I have today, nor would I have realized my great need for a changed life that would come only by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord of my life.

The greatest example of making a mess a message was Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee, who participated in the persecution and murder of Christians. After Saul had the apostle, Stephen, executed, he asked and was granted permission to travel to Damascus and bring Christians back to Jerusalem as prisoners.

While on the road to Damascus, a bright light blinded Saul, and he fell face down on the ground. He then heard the words, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Saul replied, “Who are you, Lord?” The voice answered, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9: 4–5). Three days later, Ananias, who was from Damascus and a disciple of Jesus, prayed for Saul’s eyes to be healed.

The story of Saul (who became Paul) is a story of redemption and a testimony that no one is beyond the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul’s mess became his message as he authored 14 of the 27 books in the New Testament and lived out his life advancing the kingdom of God.

That day on the road to Damascus, Jesus apprehended Paul —a murderer and zealot and demonstrated His great love for him as He does for all sinners. God captured my heart and was able to take what had been a mess in my life and make it my message of His goodness, hope, love, and redemption. It is a message that I continually strive to share with others.

Are you in the middle of a mess and you see no way out? Or maybe you cannot let go of a mess you made in past years. Know that before you were formed in your mother’s womb, God knew you intimately (Jeremiah 1:5). He knew the mistakes and choices you would make. He knows your every thought and every word that you will speak before a word is spoken (Psalm 139:4). He knows your heart, your pain and He knows your regrets. But He can help you make your mess your message.

Jesus pursued Paul so his life could be turned around and made new. Maybe God is pursuing you and is saying, “I know the plans I have for you. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” [“So], come to Me, you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Jeremiah 29:11; Matthew 11:28).

PRAYER: FATHER, I come to you with a repentant heart and surrender all to the lordship of Jesus Christ. I ask that You redeem the messes that I have made, so that they will no longer define me, but will be my message of Your goodness and love for me and for all who call upon Your name. In Jesus’ name, amen.