Devotional – God Can Clean Up Your Mess

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And we know that all things work together for
good to them that love the Lord, to those who are called according to His
purpose. Romans 8: 28

One day I became very concerned about a friend who appeared
to be making some very poor choices with regards to her Christian life. I
prayed and committed the situation to the Lord and asked the Lord to open her
spiritual eyes and give her wisdom to make the right choices.

Later as I prepared dinner, I looked at the dirty bowls and
dishes and thought “What a mess!”. Immediately the Lord spoke to me saying “But
imagine the end product!”.  I thought of
the lovely meal that I would have to enjoy at the end of the process. I thought
also of the muffins that I had gone out of my way to make, and how I would
enjoy them.

My heart was filled with hope. I knew that this was a word
from the Lord. He was reassuring me that even though my friend’s life seemed to
be a mess right now, the end product would be something beautiful. God would
use her mistakes, failures and missteps to create something wonderful. He would
indeed cause all things to work together for her good.  I knew God was telling me that He was still
in control even though it didn’t look like it at the moment. He was going to
clean up the mess and turn it into a message.

And the same is true for you and me. God sees our faults, our
mistakes and our shortcomings. In spite of this, He still extends His love to
us. His love for us is unconditional so there is nothing we can do to change
the magnitude and depth of His love for us – His love remains constant as His
Word tells us that there is no shadow of turning in Him.  He knew and chose us before the foundations of
the world and has good plans for us. Nothing happens to us outside of His
knowledge and so in His wisdom and sovereignty He has designed a way to cause
everything, even the messy things to redound to our benefit and growth as He
transforms us into the image of His dear Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayer

Father, I thank you that you have good plans for us. Thank
you that you are able to take our mistakes, failures, disappointment and messy
situations and make something beautiful out of them. Thank you that you cause
all things to work together for our good and that your love for us is unchanging. Help us to put our complete trust and
confidence in you Sovereign God. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.