A glorious mess

As Christians we often hide our mistakes, our shortcomings, our failures. Why do we do that? Is it pride that causes us to believe we must put up a facade? The truth is that when we allow other people to see us as we really are, we swing the door to Jesus wide open. If we hide, they will hide. If we are honest they will feel safe enough to come close. The closer they get to Him the more they’ll see truth, love and grace. 

I got a call from an old friend yesterday. This person was there when I struggled with my own faith, when I faltered and didn’t exactly handle things with grace. He was also there when I crawled back to Jesus, when I struggled to get back up. He has watched my faith now from afar…on social media. He too struggled with his faith, he walked away. But yesterday he called to say he feels like he wants to come back to the peace and love he once had in Jesus. He was unsure if he could. He reached out to me because my story gave him hope that maybe it was possible, maybe God really was there with open arms, just like the father in the story of the prodigal son. Maybe, just maybe, there was still hope. 

Is it ugly to let others see our faults? Most definitely. Would I rather be perfect and “pretty”? Sometimes. But in the end, I would really rather be real. So that more people like this friend of mine can see the truth of who Jesus is, of how He loves us regardless, and how He will always take us back. Sometimes the enemy whispers in my ear that I shouldn’t be doing this…I shouldn’t be writing about my messy path to being more like Jesus. But just when I start to think maybe he’s right, my phone rings, or a notification pops in, and I realize that God is using this mess to reach into other people’s lives. It’s glorious. It really is. He will make your mess glorious too, if you let Him.

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…

James 4:8