Is Being a Christian Messy?

          I recently heard a wonderful story that I wanted to share with you today.  I recently had the opportunity to attend a one day training event and the primary speaker shared a story that resonated with my soul and should with everyone who is a parent, as well. 

Here is his story:

            “Every year at Christmas I find myself waiting until Christmas Eve to do my shopping for everyone.  There is something that is just therapeutic to me about waiting and shopping on the last possible day for those special gifts.  My tradition has always been to wake up early and travel to my favorite shopping mall to purchase those special gifts for my loved ones.  However, one particular Christmas Eve, my entire perspective was altered. 

          I woke up that day and traveled to the mall ready to embark on my journey however, I knew I needed to stop by the restroom to make sure I was ready for a full day of shopping.  After coming out of the restroom I noticed an elderly lady standing extremely close to the men’s restroom door almost seeking to see inside every time that the door was opened.  I went out of my comfort zone as an introvert and asked her if everything was alright.  Her reply was simply, ‘My husband went in there a while ago and hasn’t come out.”  I questioned her reasoning but I said ‘Alright, how long has he been in there?’  Her reply raised my level of concern instantly when she said ‘He’s been in there for 45 minutes.’  I told her to wait there and I would go to check on her husband, which was going to be another challenging moment for me.  I walked into the bathroom and found myself knocking on each stall door asking, ‘Frank, are you in there?’  Finally when I reached the last stall I heard a faint whisper before I asked the question.  The voice said, ‘Yes, I’m Frank and I’m in here.’  I asked if everything was alright and responded with a simple, ‘No.’  At this point my heart was beating so loudly I was sure everyone else in the bathroom could hear it but I mustered up the courage to ask the question, ‘What’s wrong?’  The faint voice replied, ‘I had an accident.’  My heart sank as I asked, ‘Do you want me to come in and help you?’ all the while praying that he would say no.  Frank quietly said, ‘Yes, please.’  I tried to compose myself and walked into the stall with Frank who sat there covered in his own mess from head to toe.  He told me that on his way to the stall he had an accident and then slipped and fell in the mess which left him in this embarrassed and fragile state. 
          I returned out to his wife and told her that she needed to go and buy him some new clothes and returned to the bathroom to help this 80 year old man.  I found myself walking back and forth from the sink to the stall with damp paper towels in hand seeking to help Frank get cleaned up.  After working with him for several minutes, gathering the new clothes from his wife, he was cleaned up and able to leave the bathroom.  I walked out with him and watched he and his wife leave the mall.  I found myself struggling with the entire encounter as I now found myself walking through the mall at a rapid pace arguing with God about this “distraction” in my planned day and then it happened.
          At one sudden moment it became so clear to me, why this had happened.  I felt like God was nudging my heart saying, ‘There is no way for you to do what you do without getting messy, just like there was no way for Jesus to do what He did without getting messy.’  At that moment my entire world stopped as I began to think about my family, the ministry I called to lead, and the various situations that I had found myself in through the years.  I realized that this central truth is central to everything that I do.”
 

As I personally listened to these words, I thought about several of the same things in my own life.  Often times I may find myself frustrated when my children don’t listen, when things go a different route than I expected in the ministry, or when something completely deters me from completing what I thought I knew.  However, these words should resonate with our hearts because we often times have a beautiful picture of what Jesus did on the cross for us.  We believe that it was peaceful and calm just like many of the pictures that we see and display in our homes.  However, the death of Jesus on the cross so we could each have eternal life in heaven was a messy thing.  It was a horrible thing and just like this speaker mentioned there are times in our lives where we find ourselves in the midst of a “mess.”  Perhaps you are in the midst of a mess right now with your marriage, children, a situation at work, or some other situation and if that is the case I want to offer you hope.  There is no way to truly succeed in your marriage, raising children, or clinging to your integrity at work without getting messy.  It’s a part of life that we all find ourselves trudging through, however have you ever thought about the mess that Jesus endured for you?  Have you ever stopped to think about the fact that just because you are in a mess doesn’t mean that you are doing it wrong but maybe that God can trust you with the mess? 

I offer you hope today in the form of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ despite the mess that you may find yourself in.  Cling to the mess that Jesus lived through on the cross for you, knowing that His mess gives you eternal life and trust in a God who is bigger than your situation.