Beautiful Mess

 

See that mess? It's not very beautiful, but this was my view Wednesday night when I was out of commission due to pain and such. The boys went on to church and I assured them I could handle the little one as I reclined with the heating pad and pain medicine. I looked at the messy room and wanted to jump and fix the mess, I wanted to stop looking at it, the mess was affecting my rest.

 

And wham! Right in my face, the Lord gives me a very important lesson. You've heard the saying "a beautiful mess" (I think there is a book called that too)? Yes, me too, but until I was looking straight at it, I had never really seen it. I have three wonderful, noisy, happy, homeschooling kids. There is a LOT of beautiful mess in my house, but sometimes I'm just too busy to see it.  But on this night, I saw it, every bit of it, and it was beautiful.

 

What must my Lord see when he looks at me? A mess? For. Sure. Yet, he sees something he wants, something he desires, me. AMAZING, isn't it? That God can look at me all broken and of little use and yet he looks at me with such love.

 

It seems this time of year more than most, my life gets totally out of control and messy before I've even realized what happened. This season when I should be pausing to think of my Savior and the awesome, amazing sacrifice given for ME. Jesus, born in a little manger, born to die for me.

 

Isaiah 53:4, 5

"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

 

"With his stripes we are healed..." Our mess, our failures, our faults, our really ugly, not so beautiful mess is healed because of HIM. What a Saviour, what a blessed reason to celebrate every season!

 

Today, let's forget about the money that's run out, the gifts still left to buy, the sick children, the messy house, the running, and just stop. Stop. And be thankful that Jesus was born to make our mess into something beautiful.