Made In The Mess
By Luke Lezon
You never have the whole story.
There is nearly unsearchable depth to the human soul. Only Jesus can reach our deepest corners and beckon to them. Every person that you come into contact with has, is, and will be going through something. I may not know what that something is, but I do know this: your life is messy. Here is the good news though: The King left the glory of Heaven to come and meet you in your mess, wash you clean, and call you His.
We don't like messy. We want our lives to appear as clean as possible. Nobody posts a photo with their significant other after a fight, but we're quick to post about how much we love each other. I'm not advocating that we start airing all of our dirty laundry, I'm simply saying that there is always more than meets the eye. We have this fear that if people know our messiness then we will always be associated with that mess, labeled by it. We shouldn't feel shame in our mess and struggles. Struggles don't define us, they refine us.
Jeremiah 18:4 says, "And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do."
I don't know if you've watched a potter turn a slab of clay into a jar, but it's tedious. It is a process to create a functional piece with purpose. Clay can't be taken from outside and immediately turned into jars. There are impurities in it that must be refined first. The clay is then thrown on a wheel, water is applied to shape it, it gets pressed together, pulled apart, smashed down, built up, and when you think it's almost done, it's not. The lip is made thicker and wider so it will be stronger. The inside is stretched so it can hold more. Finally, it must be put in a kiln and go through fire so that it will be sturdy enough to carry out the purpose for which it was created. As God molds and shapes you it may look messy, but there is beauty in it. There is purpose in it.
Isaiah 64:8 says, "Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand."
Rest assured, clay's purpose if maximized when placed in the hands the potter. Your life is maximized when placed in Jesus' hands. It won't always be comfortable, it's not always easy to surrender and let Him have His way in our life, but you can trust Him. Would you like to know why you can trust Him? The hands that are doing the molding and shaping of your life are the same hands that did the stretching out on the cross to save your life.
Life is messy. The Gospel is messy. It is by dirt that we came into being and by blood that we came into receiving everything that we will ever need in Jesus Christ. Keep a Godly Perspective over worldly perception. Worldly perception looks at the mess in our lives and says, "There is no hope. This is just the way that things are." Godly Perspective doesn't discount or dismiss your mess, it helps you to have faith in it and see Jesus through it. It's a three days later mindset, an eternal perspective.
I know you’re hurting, I know you feel broken, I know you’re stressed. I know you’ve got class and a budget. I know you want to grow with The Lord and with a significant other. I know you've felt less than, I know you feel like you've underachieved. More importantly, He knows. He knows our lives our messy. He’s never been afraid of a mess, He’s never ran from some dirt and blood.
Luke Lezon and his wife Lindsey live in Orlando, Florida where Luke is a Teaching and Young Adults pastor at Lifebridge Church, where he leads the young adult movement, Quay. Luke is the author of the book Your Mess Matters and is the proud owner of an English Bulldog, Knox.