I would never think of myself as a perfectionist but I hate a mess! I find I can’t relax when my environment is unorganised and I need to sort it out so that I can breathe again.
The other day Riekert and I were watching a movie where a young man noted how wonderful it would be if you could skip through the messy bits of life and just enjoy the easy bits. His mother responded that life IS the messy bits!
One of the many tensions of the last year has been the messiness that the building of L’Abri has caused. We are living in limbo among other people’s possessions. With bated breath we watch our builders try to create the vision in our heads. Dear people who have never experienced clients like us, who can’t fathom what on earth we are getting at and why we can’t fit into the status quo of normal building practice. They struggle on, month after month and now we are tired. Tired of the mess. Tired of the process!
We have often wondered if we were mistaken taking on this project. Did we really hear from the Lord? When things went wrong and money was non existent, we struggled with doubt and fear. Can God's plan become so messy?
Then I remembered the prophet who was lead by God to a very messy life. He had to marry a harlot! And she kept leaving him. And he kept having to go and find her and sort out her mess. I’m sure he felt that he had misunderstood God. This couldn't be His plan! This must be a mistake!
We easily mistake messiness in life as failure. But I have learnt that messiness is part of Godly learning. We can embrace the process and have a bit of fun along the way. Sort of like little children in a muddy puddle!
The building of L’Abri has been chaos but Jesus was with us. His rod and staff comforted us. Even though we walked on very uncertain ground, He kept our feet from slipping.
So when your life becomes messy, remember your Lord and Saviour is with you in the puddle. Learn and laugh with Him. The next puddle is only a step away :)