Unshackled Moments ~ January 30, 2018 ~ Living In A Construction Zone

It's getting late, and I feel under the gun because it's almost time for bed and I am only now starting to write what should have been done about 12 hours ago. I put off my writing this morning to have extra time during the day to do some more work on the house. And that's another area that feels a bit overwhelming. It's chaos. There's a saw in the middles of the living room. Saw dust is coating far too much of the interior of the home. There are scraps of wood, pieces of boards that have been cut, boards waiting to be cut, boards with stain drying on the plastic covered kitchen table, tools scattered here and there, and.... its a mess. Not to mention so much of the day to day cleaning and home maintenance has been left undone as the more pressing restoration work is being completed, slowly.

That said, if you can look over the mess, it is a construction site after all, there are areas that are starting to look awesome. It's getting there, and enough is now done so that Leah and I can see how wonderful the place will look once the work is done. and it's even more amazing when I remember what it looked like after the fire just before Christmas (see Joy That Doesn't Burn Away). It's been hard and time consuming and slow and costly and it's meant days of living in the midst of chaos and change. The work today was redoing some work done this weekend that didn't quite get done right. I had to do it over, but the second time was a little easier.

In three and a half months I will celebrate eight years clean and sober. And there are times I feel my life is still as much of a mess as my living room. There are still times of chaos and so much restoration work that needs to be done. But at the same time, I am able to see more and more what the finished product is going to look like, and it fills me with hope and joy. Even with the mess and the work that has to be done over from time to time and the work that hasn't even begun, it already looks a million times better than the wreck of a life that walked out of the Texas prison system nearly ten years ago.

It's easy to feel overwhelmed and discouraged when progress seems to come slowly, sometimes so slowly it's almost unnoticeable. But don't give up and don't lose hope.  He who began a good work in you has promised to complete the project, and it's going to be amazing. Jesus is not scared off or overwhelmed by the mess and chaos of our lives.

Jesus handled chaos better than anyone. Seriously. He ministered in the midst of multitudes where everyone crowded in and all were welcome to come to Him, even the lepers. He spent time with the uppity religious folks, and drunks and prostitutes and traitors and fishermen and the sick galore, and often all at the same time. Talk about chaos! And He never tried to make everyone behave, or get in an orderly line or anything. He just handled it as it came. And when the storms did become too much, He told them cease and they were still. The one thing He did to balance all the chaos around Him was spend time alone with Daddy.

So, if your life is feeling chaotic, overwhelming and out of control, if it still looks and feels so much like a mess that it is easy to forget how far you've come, remember the damage is paid for, the mistakes have been forgiven, the One made the world is working or remaking you and has promised not to stop until He's done. And don't forget to get off alone with Daddy for a recharge.

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