Seasons of Mess

Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)

‘Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.’

Have you ever looked all around you and felt overwhelmed with the mess around you? We have had many of these moments over the past three months whilst moving house. One moment our room was tidy, and the next minute it was in chaos, as the next box got emptied on the floor. Our urge has been to just put these boxes in the garage and sort them out in ten years, but we know the best decision is to face them now. 

So it is with life events…life can be ticking along nicely, and boom! - a life-changing moment happens, one that you were not remotely prepared for. It's natural and understandable to feel overwhelmed when the trapdoor opens beneath your feet. Everything within you may want just to run and hide and to put that emotional trauma into a box and sort it in the future. But we want to encourage you to sort through the rubble now. To bravely keep moving forwards rather than staying still out of fear. To fight the instinct to run in the opposite direction for fear of creating a bigger mess. Sometimes one needs to face a situation head-on and trust God to sort through the ashes.

God has promised us his strength. He will never give you a trial you are unable to handle.

The above passage has carried me through many dark trials, and if I am honest, on more than one occasion, I have wailed on the bathroom floor screaming ‘God, I can't handle this; you are wrong if you think I can', but in those moments I have heard him speak. He whispered in my ear, 'You can't do this in your strength, but you can do it in mine'. So if you are struggling today, you too can lean on Jesus; if you are too weak to walk, I promise you, he will carry you, just like he did with me.

Prayer – Jesus, please be with me in every situation I encounter and remind me to put on the armour of God daily. When I am too weak to walk, please carry me. When everything seems a mess, give me the courage to sort through the rubble so I can discover the diamonds in the ashes.