When the Gospel Meets Our Mess
I recently took my children to the library. Usually, these trips are a highlight in our week. We get new books to read and we get to play with the incredible resources of toys they have. But for whatever reason, this particular trip was a disaster.
I certainly looked like a frazzled mom of two, rocking my sweats and mom bun. My son was on the cusp of walking so he was verbal in his discontentment of my holding him. My daughter was in a mood and let everyone know about it. I didn’t have enough arms to carry my son and the books we were trying to take home and within a matter of minutes, my children were in full meltdown mode. We managed to quickly check out the books we had chosen and get everyone back into the car, all eyes on us.
These public meltdowns are humbling moments. They often reveal to me where I have placed my identity that day. If I handle them with grace and patience, I know I’m resting in the Lord. If I take on embarrassment and feel like a total failure, it becomes obvious I’ve placed my identity in my motherhood.
Every parent longs to be the perfect parent. I know I do. I want to reflect Christ in every moment, have an impeccable home, and do it all on a source of energy I conjure up against the odds. But the problem is, I’m a sinner. And so are my kids. And that combination inevitably leads to short tempers, thin patience, and misplaced identities.
As we drove home, away from the scene of the meltdowns, God brought to mind something our pastor had brought up in his sermon that past Sunday.
Our church is reading through the entire Bible this year. Every Sunday morning, we come together and our lead pastor preaches on what we’ve read through over the last week. And it’s been AWESOME. When our elders first brought this idea to the church, there was definitely a sense of excitement. But now that we’re actually walking through it, it’s been an unbelievable blessing. There is so much accountability, so much edification and so much to dig into.
We recently finished the book of Genesis. While I’ve read this book several times in my life, there is something that always strikes me - it’s a mess. God created this perfect paradise and the moment sin enters the picture, it goes from bad to worse to “Why????”
God’s chosen people, his children, leave behind a mess of poor decisions, broken relationships, dysfunction, and egregious sin. When God’s timeline didn’t satisfy their lack of patience, they took matters into their own hands. There were countless bad decisions made based on accepted cultural norms at the time that led to absolute disasters and, frankly, very awkward situations to say the least.
But in the midst of all this mess, we looked at an incredible verse in the book of Hebrews that I must have skimmed over all these years:
“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” Hebrews 11:13-16 (emphasis added)
Despite the mess, despite taking matters into their own hands when doubt arose, despite the sin that abounded - God was not ashamed to be called their God.
Think about that. Was he grieved by their sin? Yes. Did he call them to a better life than their decisions led to? Yes. But was he ashamed he had called this dysfunctional group of people his children? No.
What’s even more encouraging is the fact that God is a perfect ‘parent’. The only one actually. He is holy, just, patient, kind, steadfast, omnipresent…the list goes on. And his children? Well, they’re a mess just like mine and, if I had to guess, just like yours.
This can give parents incredible comfort. We can truly rest in Christ when we feel like we are failing. We can run to him when our sin makes messy situations worse. We can seek wisdom when our children’s sin is on full display. We can bear the fruit of his Spirit in every challenging situation, by his grace. We can bring majesty to the mess by reflecting God’s character and pointing our children to him.
Because Christ has redeemed us from our sins, we have hope when it seems like our parenting skills are a disaster. We can rejoice in the public meltdowns, knowing our identity is secure in him and knowing he hasn’t forsaken us. We can press on through the challenges, knowing his grace is sufficient. And we can rest, knowing that we are not called to be the perfect parent. We are called to love God and make him known.
Cling to Christ in the chaos. Share his gospel with your littles. Worship him when it feels like you’re failing. These messy moments can glorify God if we keep our sights on him and point others his way.
