A Hot Mess and the Only Way

I filled up the paper cups at the water fountain and carried them over to where my husband and our friends were sitting in the Urgent Care waiting room. I had to be helpful in some way, try to make the terrible situation a little bit better. It was my fault we were there, after all.

Shortly after half-forcing our friends to drink their tiny cups of water, the nurse called my husband back to be seen by the doctor. I wheeled JP to a room, anxiously awaiting the results of his injury.

What started as a friendly game of pickup soccer in the field by our house had quickly turned disastrous.  

The score was tied and as it was fast approaching time to join our family for Easter dinner, we had to up the stakes.

Next goal wins.

The teams were girls versus boys so we girls had a lot to prove, and being slightly competitive, I had to win. Losing wasn’t even on my radar. JP had the ball down by my team’s net, so I sprinted toward him. I could not let my own husband be the cause of the girls losing. Just as I went to kick the ball away from him, he turned his hip and leg toward me to block me from kicking the ball.

I was already mid-kick… My foot did not collide with the ball; it collided with the back of his calf and swept his leg out. Down he fell with a crack, a crunch, and a pop.

As I was driving him to Urgent Care, I had to pull over because I was crying so hard I could not see the road. I had never felt so terrible, sorry and fully responsible as I did in that moment. The weight of my mistake, although it was an accident, was unbearably heavy.

Have you ever felt that stuck? Hopefully you haven’t sent anyone to Urgent Care, but perhaps you’ve been in a situation where there was nothing you could do to make things better? Or have you been completely at fault and deserving of all the blame?

Moments like these remind us that we are not invincible; that we missed the mark by more than a mile and we can’t dig ourselves out of the pit.

Last week we talked about the need to make room in our lives and hearts for what is most important – Jesus.

But what is so good about Him anyway? Why is He worth making room for?

Perhaps you’ve heard that Jesus’ way is better than ours, that He can help us, and that He can make our lives better.

Is that why He’s so important? Is that it, that He can make our lives better?

I’m glad you asked!

Life with Jesus is better than life without Him, but what is so good about Jesus is more than that.

Picture the world before Jesus arrived as a newborn baby. The world was spiritually dead, separated from God. People were lost, purposeless, and either striving (and failing) to keep the multitude of laws, or slaves to every desire, painfully ignorant of God’s existence.

The world couldn’t be right with God or have access to Him, they couldn’t experience everything that God is and brings, because sin kept them in darkness. They didn’t even know what they were missing, but their current way of life left them feeling empty and unsatisfied.

Just at that moment when darkness was engulfing everything, creeping in like a cold shadow, the source of light burst forth like the glorious morning sun, eliminating the darkness. Jesus Christ was born, the One who brought life to the walking dead.

“In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind,” (John 1:4).

Life comes from Jesus; He is the source.  Without Him, there is no life, only death. If we understood the implications of this, how might it transform our lives?

Before Jesus was born as a baby, the world was spiritually dead. The world was in darkness, and humanity could do anything to change that.

The Bible, in John chapter one, tells us that the life that was in Jesus was the “light of all mankind” (verse 4) and that “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it” (verse 5). We get a glimpse into the state of the world and peoples’ hearts when Jesus entered it. There was darkness in the world, and peoples’ hearts were dead. People were living, but they didn't know the abundant life Jesus would bring.

Before Jesus, there was no option. Humanity was held captive to their sin. But through Jesus alone, there is hope for those of us who get ourselves into situations we can't fix, similar to the predicament I found myself in at Urgent Care. 

There is a better way, and it is available to anyone who wants it, who surrenders control of their life and trusts God's way. 

When we realize that there is no life apart from Jesus, it seems pretty silly for us to try and dig ourselves out of the messes we find ourselves in.

When we still think we can handle things on our own, we don't let God have His way. But when we stop for a moment, confess that we can’t do a single thing about the state of our hearts, and ASK God for help, He will do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine.

Jesus is not the best; He is the only.

In John 14:5 Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus is the only way to God, to life overflowing, and to resting in perfect love. He is everything we need and He alone will satisfy our restless souls.

Making room for Jesus is worth it every single time because we can’t do it without Him. When we make space in our hearts for Him, He fills that void with Himself until He spills over into every area of our lives and the lives of those around us.

JP on the left with our equally injury-prone brother-in-law, Brad.

An x-ray and MRI later revealed the extent of JP’s knee injury – a fractured patella.

I couldn’t fix his knee, take the pain away, undo the injury, or make up for feeling like I was the worst wife ever. I had to accept defeat and admit that I couldn’t do anything to undo the past. But I didn’t have to sit in that shame – as I turned my helplessness and pain over to love Himself, He covered my inadequacy and filled the void.

Will you take a chance on the giver of life and trust that He is worth making room for?

I have never been disappointed by making room in my heart and letting God fill my heart. 

I trust you won't be either.  

Making Room for Something Better

With Christmas right around the corner, the only way I can stay organized and not turn into the Grinch is to make lists, lists and more lists! I have lists for presents, lists for food, and lists for tasks like cleaning the house and baking.

One of the most pressing tasks that I want to accomplish before Christmas is to de-clutter my house. We always seem to accumulate stuff, and because Christmas is coming, we will be getting more. I love opening presents on Christmas morning, but I will need to have room to put everything away afterward.  

I started with my walk-in closet this week, because I was running out of hangers and space. After hours of taking things out, sorting, folding, hanging, organizing, I had two large garbage bags of things to donate and newly found space in my closet. It surprised me how much stuff I had that I didn't need.

I was more than willing to put in the time and effort to go through my closet because I know that something better is coming.  

When Mary and Joseph travelled to Bethlehem shortly before the birth of Jesus, they couldn’t find a place to stay anywhere because every inn and guest room was full. The only place they found was a stable, so when Jesus was born, they wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger.

The innkeepers’ rooms were too full, which also reflected the state of their hearts: They had no room in their hearts for Jesus the Messiah, the Savior of the world. They missed the opportunity to meet Him that night because they didn’t have room.

Is my heart too full for Jesus right now?

Is your heart too full?

If He knocked on our door would we have room for Him? Would we recognize Him?

The innkeepers were concerned with making a profit from renting out rooms to people in need. If they knew just who it was was knocking at their doors, they probably would have kicked some people out to make room. But they didn’t know, because they weren’t anticipating Jesus’ arrival.

We ARE anticipating His arrival. Although His birth happened over 2000 years ago, we know He still wants to meet with us today. We have the opportunity to let Him in to our hearts, so what are we going to do about it?

We fill our lives with many things – many good things! We work and raise our children. We have hobbies and passions we like to entertain. We have people in our lives who are important. We have needs and wants to be met.

Let’s not forget about the unwelcome things that take up residence, like worry, stress, control, fear, anxiety, and guilt.

Especially approaching the holidays, we seem to cram as much as we can into the little time we have. We need to buy gifts, make cookies and decorate the tree. We have good intentions; we want to have a great Christmas.

But among the business and the to-do lists, are we making room for what is really important?

Is the seemingly important taking the space of the MOST important?

We need the space in our lives for when we meet with Jesus. He is better than anything else that could be taking His place in our hearts.

I am always tempted around Christmas time to focus on making everything perfect. I have ideas in my head of what this season should look like, down to making the tastiest charcuterie board and playing pond hockey with my siblings as much as possible. But those things aren’t the most important.

Many of the clothing items I donated were still nice and in good shape. I just don’t need them as much as I want what is coming (preferably in the form of Lululemon or new socks).

I will still enjoy Christmas even if I don’t end up de-cluttering everything beforehand. But leaving presents piled around the living room instead of having space to put them away is not desirable. Our lives can get cluttered, but there’s a better way. I can choose to clean out my closet beforehand to make room.

If we don’t make room, we miss out on what is to come. I don’t want to miss out on what Jesus has for me because I am too preoccupied with less important things. 

With God, the best is always yet to come, because He always has more of Himself to offer us. And the more we have of Him, the better and more full life is. 

If nothing else gets done before Christmas, I pray that my heart will be ready and have room to receive Him.  

The beautiful truth is that we can carve out the space to meet with Jesus every day, not just at Christmas. We just might need to make some adjustments.

What areas of your heart are cluttered with things that could be taking the place of Jesus?

Stay tuned for WHY Jesus is better than whatever else could be taking up the space in our lives and hearts.