We don’t have to be cleaned up to go to the Lord. He’s present in the messiest places in our lives. His love is a gift of grace.
It’s time for the Whiteside County Fair. My home is rich with activity. Two sons are at the dining room table painting white and yellow lines on black felt. They dream of a hand-made highway for an antique model car display. Another son is in the kitchen. He’s baking bread and scones and cinnamon rolls. Gingersnaps cover the counters. Banana muffins fill my grandmother’s serving plate. Fair contest time is precious to us.
But the house is a crazy mess.
The sink is stacked with sticky mixing bowls. There’s flour on the floor. Scraps of tape and poster board are scattered under the table. The kitchen work has generated a mountain of dirty dishtowels. The clean-up will need to be mighty.
But the Lord’s love is in this messy place.
I see it where family is gathered. Where there is sharing and happiness and joy. I see His love shine in the smiles of my boys, and I feel it in the fullness of my soul.
Despite the mess. In fact, right in the center of the mess.
Sometimes God’s love is most strong in the messiest place.
I stop to think about this.
In the mess of a broken life.
In the mess of illness.
In the mess of addiction.
In the mess of hurt.
In the mess of worry.
In the anxious mess or the mess of our self-willed sin.
His love is there. It’s what grace is all about.
Jesus answered them, “It’s not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31-32)
I help a son crack an egg against the side of a stoneware bowl just in time to witness another son drop a bag of powdered sugar to the floor.
It’s a mess here.
But God’s love is present just the same.
