this messy life

Do you feel like your life is constantly messy?

Every Saturday, Steven and I head to the yard to assess all the chores accumulated throughout the week: fallen branches, weeds, overgrown shrubs and trees, fire ant hills, etc.

It can be a mess!

Too much wind creates piles of fallen branches scattered across the yard. Too much rain washes away the mulch, creating muddy rivulets that wind through the yard. Too much heat withers the foliage and burns the garden.

And so we attack our outside projects, wheelbarrow and trimmers in hand.

Life is like a messy yard sometimes, isn’t it?

Too many activities create chaotic schedules.

Too little rest keeps us from being our best.

Too many distractions yield shallow relationships.

Too little time with God stunts the spiritual life.

Often, examining our lives and naming the trouble spots is our best course of action to address the messiness. Just as fallen branches point us toward the tree trimmer, sometimes our lives need a little trimming, too.

For I will pour out water to quench your thirst
    

and to irrigate your parched fields.


And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants,
    

and my blessing on your children.

They will thrive like watered grass,
    

like willows on a riverbank.

Isaiah 44:3-4 NLT

I want to “thrive like watered grass, like willows on a riverbank” - don’t you? Life will always have its challenges, but we don’t have to simply survive. We can thrive when our focus and direction come from the Lord.

Just as we must mow the lawn on a regular basis, we must make time every day to be with God so that He can help us address the challenges we find ourselves in.

Praying about our lives daily is an important first step.

Give all your worries and cares to God,

for he cares about you.

1 Peter 5:7 NLT

And then, when inevitable problems arise, we are already in the habit of going to our Father.

So if you find yourself in the midst of a chaotic life today, it might be time to designate space for God in your busy daily schedule. For we know, in truth, that He is the One who best helps organize a messy life.

Remember…

He cares for you.

He has compassion for you in your busy life.

He holds the key to slowing down, calming the chaos, and living more meaningfully.

He understands this messy life.

Today is a GOOD day!

~Natalie