Eggrolls are messy inside. Have you ever noticed that? Despite how tasty and orderly it looked on the outside, the inside is full of carrots, cabbage, and other ingredients twisted together without much rhyme or reason.
Doesn’t that feel like us sometimes?
I often find myself thinking that I must be perfect before I can go to God. All the ducks must be in their rows, all the rows must be straight, and I’d better have read my Bible before I come before Him in prayer.
Any of my mess—my emotions, my worries, my doubts, my trauma, my mistakes, my sins—they must all be neatly tucked away in boxes, hidden away from the sight of a perfect God.
And yet, despite my best efforts to order my ducks, they are not ducks—they are cats, and they are everywhere. And as I strive for perfection, it’s as if I forget that my holy God has already done the work on the cross to make me blameless, and I don’t have to do a thing.
All things work together for good
Before an eggroll is ready to eat, you must first gather the ingredients. They’re chopped up, rolled in the wheat flour wrapping, and deep fried in hot oil. In other words, it needs to be prepared.
Amid this preparation process, it might not seem like anything good is happening. After all, it’s only individual ingredients scattered across a cutting board, broken and unassuming, unaware of the wonderful thing it’s about to become.
But isn’t it beautiful? We serve a Master Creator.
He sees all the ingredients of our lives, the pains and the joys, the sorrows and the successes, and then He brings them together for good. He uses our circumstances to prepare us for His plans for us, plans, as Jeremiah says, to “prosper you… plans to give you a hope and a future” [Jeremiah 29:11 NIV].
As Joseph tells his brothers in Genesis 50:20 [ESV], “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” There is nothing God cannot use and redeem. He takes the mess of our lives and transforms it.
Beauty for ashes
God knows. He knows the pain. He knows the hurts. He sees the memories that run through your mind as you try to sleep.
And He promises healing.
“To all who mourn in Israel, He will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for His own glory.”
Isaiah 61:3 [NLT]
No matter what “mess” you’re bringing to the table, God wants to exchange it for a crown of beauty. He sees your ashes and He’s trading you beauty for your brokenness.
We can see His redemption played out in the lives of so many people in the Bible:
- Jacob
- Moses
- David
- Each of His disciples
- Mary Magdalene
- Nicodemus
- Paul
- And so many more
This is the same redemption available to us.
So before you wear yourself out chasing after perfection, feeling the need to “clean up” before you come to God, remember: He sees. He knows. He’s holding out His loving hands with the promise of beauty, forgiveness, and redemption. He’s giving you beauty for ashes.
