Face the Mess

I caught an episode of Hoarders recently. The family was living with roaches. Not setting bug bombs or calling exterminators to come in and spray, but living with them, almost like they were pets. It was broad daylight and there were roaches in their sink, in their dishwasher, and in their refrigerator. Yes, I said their refrigerator.

The mother was the hoarder and the teen kids and husband were living with it, and with the roaches. I couldn’t watch anymore.

Maybe you’ve seen that program and maybe you haven’t. For whatever reason, the people and families who are on that program can’t deal with the mess. Some of them cause it; some of them are content living with it; some are overwhelmed by it. In every case, they can’t see how to deal with it.

But we watch it and we think we know how to deal with it. We say, “Well, I know what I would do.” Or we say we’d never even let it get that bad in the first place, right?

See, it’s easy to see that problem from our perspective. We’re not in the mess. Our perception may be that it’s easy to fix. Just grab some trash bags. Clean it. Burn it. Whatever.

But what we don’t realize is that every one of us has a mess that we’ve grown accustomed to. Sure, it probably isn’t roaches in the refrigerator, but we all have something.

And from God’s perspective, our messes are pretty simple to deal with too.

Imagine if you had God’s perspective on your mess. You could clean it up pretty fast, right?

God wants you to be free. He wants you to win. He wants to change your perspective on life. Too many believers say they’re living for God, but they’re not taking dominion or occupying their life. Is that you? Are you living with mess that hurts your life and steals your dreams and visions? By putting up with it, you reveal that you don’t know who you are.

Because God determined the day you were born. He had a plan for your life and the time in which you would live. In Acts 17:26, Paul tells us:

“From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.”

You have to get God’s perspective. He made you unique for a special purpose. He doesn’t do things by happenstance. He has a very clear purpose for everything He does, and He has a very clear purpose for your life.

So diagnose yourself. (Brace yourself. I’m going there.)

Answer these questions:

- What are you thinking about all day?

- Are you focused, or are your days a blur?

- Are you on Facebook and Twitter all day?

- Do you waste hours watching television, or focusing on a hobby that isn’t going to amount to anything?

- How clean is your car? Are there French fries smashed between the seats?

- Do your neighbors drive by your house wondering why you haven’t taken care of the weeds?

- Does your babysitter show up every day wondering why you never wash those dishes?

And how about spiritual messes?

- Are you jealous of someone else?

- Are you envious of the life someone else is living?

- Are you holding on to unforgiveness, or any other mess?

It’s not much fun to face the messes in our lives. It takes some time to clean out the stuff from under the bed, in the closet, and in the garage. But you have to face it and clean it up, or nothing is going to change.

You have to shine God’s light on it. That’s when you’ll have revelation of who you are, and you’ll wonder why you’ve put up with it for so long.

God made you and He wants to help you. He will lead you and guide you. He wants to lead you with His grace to face the mess. Not to discourage you, but to change your perception.

So, deal with the situation that’s in front of you. Deal with the issues. Get on the scale. Pull out the bill drawer. Stop kidding yourself.

Clean your car up and you might find that you really like your car. Clean your house and it might actually feel like a retreat. Clean your life up and you might realize it’s a pretty good life after all.

Don’t wait until next week, or two weeks, or the New Year to start. Spend some time with God now and get His perspective.

He’ll help you face the mess.