Friday morning and time to take out the kitchen trash. Things fell out on the floor as I put them in. I squished the trash down as best I can to tie the bag shut. As I lift it out of the wastebasket, I discover the bottom of the wastebasket is covered with a nasty brown fluid. Yuck! And then I get a whiff, EWW! That’s when I remember the fish heads and guts at the bottom of the bag. The ones from the fishing trip my son and husband took Sunday afternoon. They’ve been sitting there for 4 1/2 days. Now a nasty, smelly mess to clean up. Not a good start to my day.

No matter how messy and smelly it was, it HAD to be dealt with. I couldn’t ignore it. So out to the garbage can it went.  

Life is sometimes like the stinky fish mess. What do you try to ignore, cover up and forget about, only to have it resurface to deal with the aftermath? Anger? Bitterness? Resentment? Abuse? Neglect? Loneliness?  Those painful items are the messy fish heads of your life.

Do you let those fish heads sit in the wastebasket? Do you cover them up hoping they will go away? Covering them up doesn’t make them go away or stop them from stinking. Those fish heads in your life may not smell like rotting fish, but they do stink up your life.

Jesus doesn’t tell you to cover things up, in the midst of your mess he tells you to bring it to Him. “Cast your cares on him for he cares about you,” 1 Peter 5:7.

However, if you find yourself in a messy situation, then Jesus invites you to “Come to me, you who are weary and heavy laden, I will give you rest,” Matthew 11:28. Jesus invites you to go to him, to lay your mess at his feet, and he will heal the wounded spots in your life. He provides an invitation to healing and wholeness in Him.

But only if you bring your messes to Jesus.

Does Jesus have your messes?

You can experience healing and restoration when you bring your messes to Him. For “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus,” Philippians 1:6.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, I am poor and needy; may You think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay. Amen. (based on Psalm 40:17)

Bible Verses about life being messy:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. James 1:17-18

P.S. If you know of someone who would benefit from this message, please share! Thank you.