With God- There are No Messes beyond Repair

The following is a post I aired on Face Book back in February of last year. I liked it so much I decided to add to it and then post it here on my blog. If you would like to be encouraged that with God, there are no ‘messes that are beyond repair’, please keep reading:

I was reminded of a valuable lesson one day last week- after trying to teach our grandson an important lesson himself. Our 3 year old grandson had taken several of his wooden puzzles and dumped them all in the middle of the table. He then decided he didn't want to bother with them after that.. However, I decided I would try and teach him the importance of cleaning up his messes.(I'm sure the task seemed a little overwhelming to him at this point.) He decided I could clean up his mess for him. I decided I wasn't going to.. After trying the 'if I clean it all up, you won't be able to play with them again today tactic (and the failure of it)- I decided to encourage him to clean up his mess by helping him straighten it out. I then placed one of the puzzles in front of his chair on the table and sorted through the mess to find all the pieces that went with that particular puzzle. He then came over and started putting all the pieces in the right place. We continued in this way until he had put all the puzzle pieces back in their proper places. I was so pleased- to see everything all beautifully back in order- and so was he :)

As I helped our little guy straighten out his mess- it put me in mind of how we, as adults can make real messes of things ourselves. The messes we make in our lives can be quite overwhelming as well- to the point of thinking there is no way they can ever be straightened back out. Regardless of what our situation may be- or how hopeless it may seem- there is One who can straighten out our messes in order to put things back the way they should be. That isn't to say our messes will be straightened out as quickly or easily as straightening out a little one's puzzle pieces, “but with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26). We do need to understand though, just as I did not put all the pieces back for our grandson- (I merely guided him along so he could do what needed to be done)- God will not do everything for us. We are responsible to be obedient to scripture's teaching in straightening out our own messes. He will lead and guide us in this- but we must be obedient to our Lord's instructions- as set forth in His word- if we are to experience good results.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer made the following statement; “we must take a definite step...we can take this step aright if we fix our eyes not on the work we do, but on the word with which Jesus calls us to do it.” The only way we can do this is through diligent study of God’s word and striving to live in obedience to that Word. However, we must “trust in the LORD with all our hearts, leaning not on our own understanding, but acknowledging him- so that He will make straight our paths, being not wise in our own eyes, but fearing the LORD, and turning away from evil.. “(paraphrase of Prov. 3:5-7). 
 

The best example in scripture of ones who got themselves into an insurmountable mess (which in this case is a huge understatement) would be Adam and Eve. It would be hard to imagine how they felt after rebelling against God’s command and plunging all of mankind into a state of sin and death. Knowing they had brought upon themselves, along with all of posterity, a debt so huge they could never come good for it, must have been overwhelming indeed. Yet,“.. as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:18-19).

God promised He would bring order out of the mess Adam and Eve had made of things, He would do this by bringing about reconciliation through His Son, “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:19-20). This is what God has been doing since the beginning of time and continues to do. He is reconciling all things to Himself. Every mess we get ourselves into, every trial and trouble we persevere through are all for the purpose of reconciliation between God and His people- through the process of sanctification. In Isaiah 59:20 we read, “And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord.

May we be comforted to know there are no messes beyond repair with our God, for with ‘the Sovereign LORD who made the heavens and the earth by His great power and outstretched arm’, “nothing is too hard” (Jeremiah 32:17). However, we must be responsible as Ezekiel 18:30 teaches us to, “Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin,” and we also must “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8).

Praise God that He alone is able “...to comfort all who mourn in Zion- to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called the oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified” (Isaiah 61:2-3). He alone can bring beauty from ashes.