Not everything turns out as you had hoped.
Not every dream comes true.
Not every friend stays close.
Not every prayer is answered.
Not every fear happens.
(Sounds like Ecclesiastes, doesn't it?)
I've just been thinking about people and their lives....choices. I have lived through the results of the choices of one dear friend, and just today visited another member of our church family who made some bad choices...this dear saint is in hospital because of the choices...their comment to me was, "I made a foolish choice."
We all do that....the sad fate of sinful men and women in a fallen world...we all make poor choices. I'm always in awe as I read 2 Samuel 11 as David makes a whole chapter full of bad choices, and God said nothing. He simply "stepped off the stage" and waited for David to play out the story. David took another man's wife, tried to cover up the sin, and finally had the husband killed. At the end of the chapter God says this,
"But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD."
Life is messy! For all our desire to live for God we still sin. We still make mistakes. We still choose poorly.
God is so good to us to graciously love us, care for us, and draw us to himself. It is such a blessing to already have our sins dealt with at the cross. It's such a glorious thing that God has done to forgive our every sin and take care of it all when we receive him as our savior.
The rest of my life is a growing into God dependence, allowing him to do in and through me what I cannot do on my own (note Romans 7). It's wonderful to have the sin issue taken care of, now my life is focused on the constant goal of setting myself aside for his use (sanctification), allowing him to live his life through me.
It's messy, and I don't always get it right, but it's how he chose to work, so Lord do in me what I cannot do on my own, live through me and show the world what you look like, and thank you for forgiving my sins even before I asked....in all of this your grace is our blessing, and your glory is your goal. Thanks for working in spite of the mess.
3 comments:
I love that picture every time I see it. Poor Nemo!
Life IS messy, Mike. Sometimes I just don't want to get dirty, you know? But I have to jump in the mire anyway, if I truly want to LIVE. It has taken me a long time to merely realize this. To act upon it is the hard part, for me.
mike,
messy is uncomfortable and usually not much fun. In a culture where fun is where it's at - who wants messy?
As a parent, I am reminded of those times when my children would LOVE spending a Saturday afternoon getting messy in the mud. I'm talking head to toe mud. Now, the playing part was fun, but cleaning up - not so much. Those pesky little consequences, eh?
As an artist, I'm always reminded of how we are "jars of clay". Beautiful, but a mess to make. Fragile, yet long lasting. Perseverence - hard and rarely not messy.
Also, making a jar of clay is a process. You can't just spend 10 minutes molding and you're done. Your hands get messy, your clothes get messy, in fact most everything around you gets messy. A lot of work, but well worth it. I choose to believe that God relishes every moment in molding us jars. We are a lot of work, too. But well worth it.
thanks for your thoughts, mike. I've had a year full of "things not turning out the way they were supposed to". It was messy, still is. But, I realize now how much better off I am and so thankful for it.
So, I'll continue to get my hands dirty even if that means I've got to do the laundry.
i think i like ya!
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