“Churches are not Victorian parlors where everything is always picked up and ready for guests. They are messy family rooms… Things are out of order, to be sure, but that is what happens to churches that are lived in. They are not show rooms. They are living rooms, and if the persons living in them are sinners, there are going to be clothes scattered about, handprints on the woodwork and mud on the carpets” (Eugene Peterson, “Reversed Thunder”, page 54).
What Peterson says about churches is true of life in general. Unfortunately, life can be messy. It would be nice if everything was simple, easy and straightforward, but it rarely works that way. If seen in picture form, most people’s lives would look more like a river winding its way across a valley, rather than a man made canal that makes a straight line from “point A” to “point B”. We sort of expect things to go smoothly, but experience tells us that is rarely the case.
Even a cursory glance at the word of God should be enough to remind us that even some of God’s greatest servants were not immune to the “mess” of living. For example, the apostle Peter, the man who preached the first gospel sermon in Acts chapter two is the same Peter that denied knowing Jesus at all (and he did that three times – Matthew 26:69-75). The apostle Paul, started off his life as “Saul” – a persecutor of the church and God’s people (see Acts 9). Many early disciples, such as Stephen, died for their belief in Christ (Acts 7). In the Old Testament, we see faithful people like Job going through some terrible circumstances. Almost every New Testament letter that we possess was written to sort out some issue or problem (sometimes many) that the Christians were having.
The bottom line: Heaven is the only place where we are guaranteed no tears, no death, no crying and no pain (Revelation 20:4). Until then, we will likely have to face some situations that are not “as they should be” and some things that we wish were different.
That being the case, we need to know that we have help. As Psalm 46:1 reminds us, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble”. If you find yourself in a storm right now, if things are a little messy, please remember that God can work in “the mess” and even “in spite of” it.
In fact, he is a “clean-up” expert.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” - Romans 8:28
What Peterson says about churches is true of life in general. Unfortunately, life can be messy. It would be nice if everything was simple, easy and straightforward, but it rarely works that way. If seen in picture form, most people’s lives would look more like a river winding its way across a valley, rather than a man made canal that makes a straight line from “point A” to “point B”. We sort of expect things to go smoothly, but experience tells us that is rarely the case.
Even a cursory glance at the word of God should be enough to remind us that even some of God’s greatest servants were not immune to the “mess” of living. For example, the apostle Peter, the man who preached the first gospel sermon in Acts chapter two is the same Peter that denied knowing Jesus at all (and he did that three times – Matthew 26:69-75). The apostle Paul, started off his life as “Saul” – a persecutor of the church and God’s people (see Acts 9). Many early disciples, such as Stephen, died for their belief in Christ (Acts 7). In the Old Testament, we see faithful people like Job going through some terrible circumstances. Almost every New Testament letter that we possess was written to sort out some issue or problem (sometimes many) that the Christians were having.
The bottom line: Heaven is the only place where we are guaranteed no tears, no death, no crying and no pain (Revelation 20:4). Until then, we will likely have to face some situations that are not “as they should be” and some things that we wish were different.
That being the case, we need to know that we have help. As Psalm 46:1 reminds us, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble”. If you find yourself in a storm right now, if things are a little messy, please remember that God can work in “the mess” and even “in spite of” it.
In fact, he is a “clean-up” expert.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” - Romans 8:28
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