A little over a year ago we met Sammi, and I have talked about her some here and there. But more and more lately her encounter with Jesus has been on my mind. All I can think over and over is “God meets us in our messes and loves us right out of them.”
When Jesus met Sammi she was an outcast, a loner, a socially unacceptable woman. She had to draw her water at the well when no one else was there. Some of you may think, “Wow, that’s sad.” And others may think, “Well, she kind of did it to herself.” And I’d say you are both right. But the truth is, is her sad, self-inflicted mess is no different from your sad, self-inflicted mess.
Judgy? Maybe. True? Absolutely. Your mess is just as messy as her mess. We love to take to comparing ourselves to others to gauge the severity of our mess or justify the reasons why we are knee deep in the junk. And social media is the biggest culprit of nasty messes and failed expectations. We compare our walk with someone else’s walk, our mess with someone else’s mess, and our successes to someone else’s successes.
Aren’t you tired of comparing? I sure am!
The truth of it is, is God is going to show up while you’re knee deep in your chaos just like He will for everyone else. Every. Singe. Time. The change, however, lies in your call to God. And again in your response to Him.
And guess what??
God is going to constantly meet us in our mess of junk and pull us out because we aren’t “there” and we don’t “arrive” and we are never sanctified until we meet Him on the other side. Look at how many times David had to run to God to repent? To be pulled out of his pride, his adultery, his sin. And yet God never gave up on him, nor did He compare David’s struggles to Job’s trials. God didn’t just pass up Saul in his murderous rage. He met him on the road and then sent Annanias to lay hands on him, and he became Paul. Nor did he leave Sammi to continue her life without Him that day at the well. Got meets us all right in the midst of the storm and sometimes it’s the rawness of His presence, and other times it is through someone else.
The encounter between Sammi and Jesus was simply Sammi and Jesus. The encounter with you and Jesus may look a little different. It may look like you, your friend LaFonda or Shelly or even Karen, and the Holy Spirit. God works through other people so beautifully. He sends them to us so we are not alone in our own turmoil. Which means that mess of a girl you see on Facebook that you compare your mess to? She may need you to walk beside her. And it’s highly likely you will need her to walk beside you. We cannot do this life alone and nor were we meant to.
I want to offer a challenge this week, one that may be a little uncomfortable. If God brought someone to mind for you while reading this, reach out. It could be a co-worker, a former friend, someone you may not get along with, or someone you don’t know really well. Build a bridge where there currently isn’t one. Reach out like Jesus, lay hands like Annanias. Oh no, it isn’t going to be easy. Oh yes, it is going to feel awkward. Do it anyway. Lives change when we take one step. Hate stops with one caring word. Judgement ceases when we stop comparing our walks to others and start reaching out to understand one another: the jailbird, the drug addict, the panhandler, the single mom, the miss always right, the neighbor, the co-worker, the social media flaunter, the overachiever, and the have it all together-er. We ALL have messes, junk, and storms. The question is, when you are in your mess, or observing someone else’s mess, what is the state of your heart?
Philippians 2:1-7 says, So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being of full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interest of others.
Do nothing from rivalry or conceit…count others more significant than yourselves. There is absolutely no caveat to that statement. It doesn’t say others except for the ones that irritate you. Or the ones that have a different lifestyle than you. Or the ones that are not saved like you are. It just says others. And with the others, love yourself also. God made you, messes and all. We spend so much time cleaning up our mess while comparing it to someone else’s mess, we miss out on what God really has for all of us. The ability to help one another through sift through all the junk we either make or are given. Many hands make light work, right?
Friend, we may not know each other at all. But I sure hope one day we will. For today, feed yourself, girl with the love of God and His word, and also with the love of you sisters.
Until next time.
feed yourself, girl 