The Messier the Happier

The more we have for God to forgive us, the more we celebrate receiving God's grace. Another way to say it is the more messed up our lives, the more overjoyed we are when we realize that God loves us and forgives us while we're messed up. After all, Jesus died for us while we were in that messed-up state, knowing we could become more if we had a way.

"Maybe the alcoholic and the blind man didn’t know much about Jesus, but they knew plenty about their encounters with Jesus.” (Messy Spirituality by Mike Yaconelli. p. 70)

I want to confess, after living a messed up life myself, I get frustrated with people in ministry who have never actually lived in the "real world." I've worked with some of these people. They get upset when life doesn't go their way. [I'm not talking about anyone I work with right now, don't worry.] Their spirituality doesn't go as deep as those I know who have struggled through their horrible mistakes.

Many of us have had to deal with the shame of what we've done wrong. On the flip side of the shame coin is the realization that Jesus doesn't care and still loves us through that misdoing. For our paralyzed man, Jesus saw past his physical issues, which brought him shame, and healed him of body and soul. He responded by jumping up and praising God.

“Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” And immediately, as everyone watched, the man jumped up, picked up his mat, and went home praising God.” –Luke 5:24b-25 NLT

I wonder how you responded when you had your moment with God. It took me a while to let go of my feelings of shame. Today, I am proud to be the person God made me, and I praise him from the center of my soul.