Maybe, like me, you’ve made a mess of things. You’ve given your life to Jesus, received his forgiveness, and are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit - but that hasn’t stopped you from making an unrecognizable mess of things. There are days when I’m overwhelmed by my ability to choose the wrong response; the wrong response to hardships that aren’t necessarily my fault and wrong responses to opportunities God has brought my way. It’s as if God has dressed me in wonderful “church clothes” and I immediately run outside and play in the mud, only to return to Jesus with my head hung low and hands lifted, filled with mud and shirt covered. If you can resígnate with that experience then maybe it will do your heart well, with mine, to be reminded of the ever-sufficient mercy of God.

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” - Hebrews 4:16

Mercy is for the mess. God is merciful. We receive salvation by coming to Jesus but in Jesus we have continual access to the throne of God in times of mess when we have fallen into the sticky mess of our sin. He grants access as provision for the journey. God must have known, known that you and I would stumble and, in love, never locked the door behind us. We have not received mercy and grace in Christ only to be sent on our way. Our Heavenly Father remains available for the eventual stumbling return, when we!ve journey too far and lost our way, when we have given in to the yearning of our sinful nature that finds the mud attractive.

Don’t hang your head in embarrassment or worry that he’s grown tired of you. You and I can experience restored joy. He cleanses us so that we may have joy again. David prayed “Restore to me the joy of your salvation” that is to say wash me and free me from the weight of this mud I’ve cover myself with.  Do not grow content dealing with the weight of the mud. Joy is available. There’s no penitence found in sitting mud-covered when mercy is available. Mercy isn’t reluctantly shoveled on you. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us” (Ephesians 2:4). He has great, ongoing love for me and you. Draw near to him and experience his love anew.

Cleanse us, Jesus. Your love is persistent. Mercy is sufficient for our mess, sufficient to wash away our embarrassment and shame, to restore hope to our souls. You hope for us when there is no hope in us. Fill us with new ambition to serve you, to love you, to honor you. amen.

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