Ut Oh! What a Mess!!

“Ut Oh, it’s a mess!”

Those are the words I heard my two year old daughter, Caroline, exclaim shortly after hearing a whole bunch of something spill on the kitchen floor. The type of noise a Mama dreads going to investigate. Hesitantly, I walked into the kitchen to find that it was only a sleeve of crackers that spilled and scattered on the floor, but it was a mess nonetheless. A mess that had to be cleaned up because Caroline’s busy little hands are always into something and that’s just what toddler life is all about. 

That seemingly insignificant moment taught me a lesson during a tough a season in which I needed to learn it. The lesson is: Even something small can quickly become a mess when left in hands that aren’t meant to be handling it. 

Did you catch that? 

“…hands that aren’t meant to be handling it.” 

It’s the same as when we try to handle certain situations on our own that should be placed in God’s hands and left there for good. Sure, He can turn a “mess into a message”, but most often an entire mess can be avoided if we’d leave our hands out of it and let Him handle the situation instead. That is easier said than done, but God promises to work all things for our good (Rom. 8:28) and it’s in the surrender that our trust in Him grows, our hurts can be healed, and our faith is put to good use. 

So, that situation you want to confront, leave it in His hands. 

That problem you keep trying to fix, leave it in His hands. 

That issue you want to help resolve, leave it in His hands. 

He’s not messy like you and I can be. 

After all, “He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He.” Deuteronomy‬ ‭32:4‬ ‭