- May I make a confession to you? You are saying, “Yes, of course. Let’s have the dirt.”
Sorry. You are going to hear dirt, but nothing that you haven’t heard from thousands of others. Here it is:
I. AM. A. MESS.
Not that you will ever see it. No siree. You’re crazy if you think I’m going to show it. But trust me: I’m a mess.
And so are you.
Now you are probably thinking, “Speak for yourself bub.” But, please, hear me out.
There is a story I suspect many of you have heard or read. It is the story of a tapestry-a beautiful, fine-looking piece of art. Every piece in place. Every stitch, every strand of yarn is right where it needs to be. Now…turn it over. What do you see? A mess. Yarn, string, fabric going everywhere in one big, tangled mess.
Now, turn it back over. Chaos to sublime. Chaos to order. Ugly to beauty.
So yes, I am a mess. Inside me is chaos, a real jumble of wires. It is called and made worse by sin. I know this verse is overused, sometimes misused, and sometimes nothing more than a picture on a wall or some “Jesus junk” (as Keith Green used to call it), but the words ring true: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” To get the real strength of that verse you MUST read the ones which follow. “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jer.29:11-13) (ESV)
The real truth is that God does bring order out of chaos. He does take messed up, tangled lives and makes them something beautiful. A song from years ago said, “He makes beauty from ashes.”
Let Him take your mess and your chaos and replace it with order and beauty.
The song, Something Beautiful, came to my mind as I read this bill. Jesus truly can make something beautiful out of our brokenness and strife. We are never too messed up for Him to work with.
Boy, that is a song that goes way back! But it is so true. And what you wrote is spot on Pam. Thanks.
I have heard the story of the tapestry and it is such a good illustration of life and the tangled mess that we see at times. The overlapping jumble of brokenness, mess, confusion, pain, sorrow, emptiness… Yet God, God sees the other side. He sees the masterpiece that is the finished product. He sees how my story and the everyone else’s stories are woven together to produce a finished work that is nothing short of a masterpiece… We just have to recognize that God is the one who is weaving the thread.
Thankful that my mess of a life can be part of a larger perfected work.
I’m there with you Ryan on being thankful that my mess of a life can be part of a larger perfected work. A mess into a masterpiece.
Father, only You can take our tangled messes, brokenness, and chaos, and turn it into something beautiful. Thank-you Father, for not leaving us as the mess we are, only You Father, the Creator of all things, has the power and strength to hold us together. Without You, everything on earth would fall apart into a chasm of chaos. All the praise and glory to You alone, thank-you Father.
Thank you for the prayer Gail. I, too, am thankful He doesn’t leave us in the mess.
Amen, Bill!
Blessings!
Thanks Martha. I love hearing “blessings.”
Reminds me of the artist’ canvas. big, white and just ready for the Master’s piece!
And hopefully we are ready for it Ed. May His work be done.