"Sky, land, and sea, heavy and saturated with God--why do I always forget?" (Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts).
I know why I forget. It's because I look around me and see the mess. After a long day, working hard, teaching, training, serving, loving, encouraging, cleaning, organizing, bathing . . . . After all that, I look around and all I see is what is still undone. The piles of laundry waiting to be washed, more piles waiting to be put away, the sink of dishes, the unswept stairs, the bathrooms grimy and cluttered. It's hard to feel I've accomplished anything when so much remains to be done.
In all this, where is Your glory, Lord?
I remember first longing to see Your glory when I read this is a young girl, captivated by the imagery:
"For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea" (Habakkuk 2:14).
Every crack and cranny, valley and mountain filled . . . covered, overflowing, heavy . . . with the glory . . . the radiant, weighty, precious glory of the Lord.
It should be beautiful, shouldn't it? Not messy and half finished, never fully done?
Why am I so content when completed tasks surround me and so quickly discontented when reminded of all that remains to be done? This cannot be like You, for You are patient in the process, every messy, incomplete step of the way, as you gradually transform us into Your image . . . from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18).
What do You see, Lord? Let me see through Your eyes.
"I see a messy, bloody Man on a cross, heart hanging out in anguish of love rejected. I do not see beauty as You see it. You want it neat and tidy, wrapped in shiny paper and tied with a bow. My glory does look like that sometimes, but often it looks broken and bleeding and raw. Sometimes it's dirty floors and smelly trash cans, sinks of dishes and piles of laundry.
"Whitewashed tombs can look beautiful on the outside, but they have no life in them. I love life, teeming, swarming, embracing, sloppy, smiling, laughing, crying, screaming, sweating, crayons-on-the-walls life, in all its beautiful, glorious mess. Don't allow yourself to be discouraged by the wake that is left behind after all the running, jumping, tickling, playing--I am in it all. And I am here to help you clean it up! Not so that it can stay that way, but so we can start again tomorrow with a fresh canvas ready to receive all the color and streaks and splashes and splatters, the handprints and tears and joy of another masterpiece being created for My enjoyment.
"You want to create a snapshot of perfection, and your energy is drained when you don't accomplish it by the end of each day. But that is not what I am looking for. If you aren't careful, your desire for completion can become an idol, because it can keep you from wanting what I want. It can blind you, preventing you from seeing what I see, hindering you from running freely, taking risks, and trusting me on this steep, rocky, glorious, hard, exhilarating journey I have set before you. It can dominate your mind, harden your heart, and cause you to forget . . . to become discontent.
"Cast off this idol! Allow Me to fill you with joy and peace . . . with contentment . . . as you behold My glory here and now . . . right in the middle of the glorious mess. Come, make some more messes with Me! We will have so much fun together, and then we'll clean it up so we can do it all over again! Come! Experience life with Me!"
"Listen! My beloved! Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills. . . .
My beloved spoke and said to me,
"Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me. . . .
Arise, come, my darling;
my beautiful one, come with me"
(Song of Solomon 2:8, 10, 13).
