.....mess

Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more Romans 5:20

I heard a story about a husband who was the kind of guy who believed housekeeping couldn’t be that hard. He would often say to his wife, “If you’d just organize your time better, this would all be a breeze.” Then one day, she went out of town and he got a chance to prove it. When someone stopped by to check on him, he proudly boasted, “I made a cake, frosted it, washed the kitchen windows, cleaned out the cupboards, scrubbed the floor, the walls, the ceiling — and even squeezed in a shower!”

Impressive, right? But then he confessed, “I forgot to turn off the mixer before pulling out the beaters. So, I had to do all the rest.” What started out as one small mistake turned into a full-blown frosting explosion and a major cleanup job.

Isn’t that how life goes sometimes? You set out to do one small thing — maybe even something good — and before you know it, everything’s a mess. A conversation goes wrong. A small sin leads to bigger consequences. A neglected habit spirals into a spiritual mess. You look around and think, “How did I get here?”

The truth is, we’ve all been there. But fortunately, God isn’t surprised by our messes and he’s prepared to deal with them. Paul wrote, “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” In other words, when the mess gets bigger, God’s grace shows up even more.

And God doesn’t leave us to mop up the consequences alone. He doesn’t say, “Clean yourself up, and then I’ll help you.” He says, “Bring me the mess, and let’s walk through it together.” King David, after his own crash-and-burn moment, cried out: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” Psalm 51:10. And God did. He still does.

So, if today feels like a disaster, don’t panic. God is patient. His grace is sufficient. And sometimes the mess we’ve made becomes the moment God uses to teach us, to help us grow, and to remind us that we don’t have to clean up alone.

Father, thank you for loving me in the middle of my mess. Thank you for your grace and your patience. Help me not to hide my failures, but to bring them to you so that you can create a clean heart in me. In Jesus’ name, amen.