Do you ever feel like God’s calling us to live messy? At least a lot messier than we are?
I don’t mean neglecting the laundry or tossing the vacuum. I mean stepping outside the orderly. Stepping outside the safe. Stepping outside the bubble-wrapped. I mean rolling up our sleeves and getting dirty.
Sometimes I get the feeling that my life’s too tidy. Too neat. Too sanitized.
I go the easy way because the hard’s too much work.
But you know what?
We don’t experience God in the easy. There’s no growth to be had in the simple.
We experience God when things are so hard and so out-of-our-control and so untidy that all we can do is throw up our hands and trust that He will show up in the midst of the chaos.
A couple Sundays ago, my pastor said something that spoke so powerfully to my heart. To my husband’s too. He said, “If you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, then get in over your heads.”
Too often, I put off the promptings of the Spirit until I have everything organized and figured out and straightened up.
Too often, I ignore the impulses of the Spirit because it feels too messy. Too complicated. Too out of my control. Too over my head.
But maybe that’s the point.
Maybe, when we step outside the safe lines that make up our lives, we see His grace and His power and His provision in a way we never would had we stuck with the status quo.
Maybe in those risky, uncertain moments, His glory shines the brightest.
Let’s Talk: Tell me about a time you got messy and risked for God.
*Picture by aidan1923
Getting outside that comfort zone often feels messy to me. I spoke up in Church last Sunday and that sure felt messy as it was a difficult topic to share on.
Two years ago, exactly one week before my unexpected divorce was final, one of our pastors asked me to write and share a personal testimony during our Ash Wednesday evening service of how God shines brightest in the darkness. How He brings good out of ashes when all we can smell is smoke. It was the hardest – yet most healing – thing I've ever had to do. Most of the congregation didn't even know, but the outpouring of love and support was truly stunning. God DOES bring beauty from ashes. His face DOES shine brightest when darkness blackens everything else. He DOES rescue us and set our feet on His rock (Psalm 18:16-19).
okay, okay. i get it, God. you are using my crit partner to bring home the message you are already telling me: LET GO OF THE LITTLE CONTROL YOU THINK YOU HAVE.
consider the message received, Lord.
thanks, girl.
Susan – praise God for you and your husband's faithful and soft hearts. That is EXACTLY the kind of messy I was talking about.
I'm so glad you shared and trust that God will use your testimony to encourage and bless others. I know you've already done so for me!
Love this, Katie! I definitely see God more clearly when I'm surrendered enough to get messy. An example from my life is when our family (me, my husband & our 3 kids) adopted a 16 year-old pregnant girl. She & her baby lived with us for two years, and every single day my hubs & I encountered a situation that we were completely unequipped to handle (there was all kinds of drama with the baby daddy, her biological family, the Dept of Human Services, etc). We invested our hearts & souls into her & her baby – loved them deeply, as our own – but it didnt end well & she moved in with her boyfriend as soon as she turned 18. More often than not, we were confused and heartbroken and battle-weary to the point of being bloody. It was the farthest thing from tidy. BUT His power is made perfect in weakness. We just gave Him a whole lot of weakness to use.
I don't know all the reasons we had that season in our lives & I don't know if it had any lasting effects on our girl, but I do know that she & her baby are prayed for A LOT in our house. Maybe that's enough.
Thanks for this post. I've followed your blog for a long time but this is my first time commenting. 🙂
Your words stir me to action! Thanks for being used!
Love this, Katie!
I've been messy before, but I feel God calling me to be messy again. Specifically, I know without a doubt that I'm being called to work with Mormons– those who are leaving the church. I'm not sure how or when God is going to set it up, but He's going to do it. I've never felt him speak more clearly to me than he did after I visited the Mormon temple in Atlanta. And I have no doubt, working that as a mission will be very, very messy. 🙂
Love how the Spirit is using you today!
Thanks for being willing:)
Jill – I think there are a lot of things God might ask us to do that are messy or complicated. And by messy and complicated, I mean things that feel over our heads and outside our "abilities.
Jesus got messy all the time. He touched lepers and bleeding women. He reached out to tax collectors.
What does that look like for us today? I'm not sure. Which is why I left it a bit ambiguous. But some people here have mentioned prison ministries or missionary work.
Anytime we get involved in the lives of the "least of these" and I mean truly invest and become a part of their lives, then we risk making our lives messier (or more complicated).
Love these comments everybody!
Oh boy…messy is scary and uncomfortable, but you're so right! That's when God can really use us for something great. What messy things have I done? Gone on a mission trip to Vietnam to minister–that was a big one that was way out of my comfort zone. It was amazing, though, and great work was done there 🙂
A few months ago I decided to be part of jail ministry. This was not an easy thing for me to do at all, but I knew that it was the leading of the Holy Spirit. But talk about being out of my comfort zone! My dad was a meth addict and in prison when I was a teen, so this was something that back then I never could have imagined doing. That's the reason why I know it's all God- I could never do it on my own.
I'm always glad when I step out of my comfort zone…allowing the messy moments.
Loved this post.
You're being a little ambiguous. What does it mean to get messy? What does it mean to step outside of safe? I'd really like to know what that means to you.
I love getting a little messy. That's exactly where God teaches us something. I think those messy times is exactly when we might reach out to others as well. It's then that we all learn a little about God's goodness.
I like things neat and orderly. The unexpected can send me reeling. However, some of the messiest times in my life have led to the greatest growth. God knows what's best for me and sometimes uses messiness to help me address areas of my life where He sees a need for change. I do my best to remember this when things don't go the way I'd like.
I knew I was going to love this post from the moment I read the title. Great stuff!
But messiness soooo goes against my very Type A personality!! 😛
My husband and I helped to start a young marrieds class at church, so even though I don't relish the thought of going up to strangers and talking (because as leaders, we needed to be welcoming and friendly!), I did it. And now, I'm a lot more comfortable with it, which definitely helps my skills in the professional department as well. It was uncomfortable, but God grew me through it.
Yes, you are so right Slamdunk. That's exactly what my pastor was talking about on Sunday. Stepping out of our comfort zones. Because that's the only place where we'll experience growth.
Excellent advice Katie. I think of it as stepping outside our comfort zones.
One personal example was when I decided to volunteer in a nursing home as an undergrad. I became a regular for a couple of years and learned much more from the residents as compared to anything I might have given.
I think that sounds just like Him. I don't know a specific time I deliberately got messy but I hope if He wants me too, I will. I try to be flexible. Most of the time. lol
Yay, Jessica! And yay, God! So glad He used these words to encourage and guide you this morning!
Ah! I'm working on my message for a Christmas Banquet and I wasn't sure if I was going in the right direction with what I was saying. I decided to read your post. Confirmed. Thanks for being used today…for getting messy! 🙂