Mercy with the mess
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send your username and password to you.
Rev. Christopher Todd
Words of Restoration
My wife and I have three children. One thing about children is they’re messy. I mean, they seem to be the champions of making messes.
Even as they get older, they still seem to know how to make a mess. But especially when they were little, their messes were so visible!
The unique irony of their messiness is that it always seems to come at the most inconvenient times. A dropped item right after you mopped the floor. The food splattered on the light-colored shirt. The desire to pull out every toy when they were just tidied up. The spill after you just said to be careful.
In our handful of years of dealing with a myriad of messes, I’ve discovered a few things. First, my response is critical. How I react can make a world of difference. I will admit that I haven’t always responded to them well.
Another discovery is the recognition that, as often as it seems like I am repeating the same admonition, saying the exact words of correction, or even cleaning up the same messes, it’s not a waste of time.
Yes, it’s tiring, repetitive and undoubtedly mundane work, but it is not a waste of time. Those are moments to teach my children, times to be with them and a second to slow down amid the busyness of life. Occasionally, their mess leads to a lesson, not just for them, but for me, too.
Here’s one more reality: they’ll keep on making messes. The older my kids get, the bigger the messes. But let me remind you of something: you and I still get ourselves in messes, too.
They may not be the dropped cup on the floor (I still do that occasionally), but the more complicated, often more emotional messes of life.
Here is a word for you if you find yourself responding to others’ messes or if you are the creator of the mess.
It’s nestled in the gospel of Luke; there, Jesus is credited with sharing, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36).
This is an encouragement, as well as an exhortation. The Lord is gentle toward us, even in our mess; we should do the same, even in their mess, as well.
We are called to give to others the way God gives to us. Just as God shows mercy toward us, we should do the same.
Life is messy. But even with the mess, let’s be merciful.
Christopher M. Todd is a Coosa County resident and the pastor of The New Home Missionary Baptist Church near Rockford.