I’ve seen a lot. Some of what I’ve seen you wouldn’t want to see. Some of what I’ve experienced in other people’s lives, you’ve experienced as well.
Working in a ministry setting affords you a backstage pass to other people’s stories in a way that is deep and ugly and rich.
Most recently, a miscarriage of a little girl just 16 weeks along. Parents crushed. Family devastated. Before that, the dissolution of a once thriving marriage and before that, the ugly politics in a workplace that resulted in a nasty pink-slip firing with precious few opportunities for re-employment.
It is a messy life.
Yet in that mess (which can sometimes look like the table top of a 2 year old’s dinnertime) is where God is. In the messy anger, grief and shame is where God shows up. Where we see chaos and confusion, he points out opportunity and hope. Where we feel empty and sad, he shouts “potential and joy!”
He makes all things — even the messes — new. He takes brokenness and turns it into art (click for a related post).
Because of that, the messes of life become beautiful. The ugly becomes gorgeous and the dim becomes radiant. He does new things in you through this beautifully messy life.
“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
Peace!
Todd Stocker 