[reprinted from June 7, 2012]
“The God who made you is like your husband.
His name is the Lord All-Powerful.
The Holy One of Israel is the one who saves you.
He is called the God of all the earth.
You were like a woman whose husband left her, and you were very sad.
You were like a wife who married young and then her husband left her.
But the Lord called you to be his,” says your God.
God says, “I left you for a short time, but with great kindness I will bring you back again.
I became very angry and hid from you for a time,
but I will show you mercy with kindness forever,” says the Lord who saves you.
The Lord says, “This day is like the time of Noah to me.
I promised then that I would never flood the world again.
In the same way, I promise I will not be angry with you or punish you again.
The mountains may disappear, and the hills may come to an end,
but my love will never disappear; my promise of peace will not come to an end,” says the Lord who shows mercy to you. Isaiah 54:5-10 (NCV)
I never said this much to the world in general. I mean, I pretty much walked out the door of my house and pulled it all together. But when the LORD and I would spend time together and just get real – I admitted to Him – that I am a mess! And the problem is that I thought, “I created the mess. It’s my job to deal with the consequences and clean it up!” And how was that working for me? Not so well.
I think I forgot that God is my Creator. There is nothing about me He doesn’t know. He knows my weaknesses. He knows my stubbornness. There is nothing I can hide behind or ‘fake’ my way through to deceive God into thinking everything is alright with me – when it isn’t!
I also forgot that God is my Father. Now it took me some study time to read the Bible about who and what Father God was. It was an awesome journey that was such a revelation of new information to me! I found myself eager to read the Bible and eager to read how God was able to bring love and discipline to His children. And it is all about His great, extravagant love for me!
When I began to meet with Jesus on a regular, ongoing basis, I found I was following Jesus. I was learning about who I wanted to be. Jesus was cleaning up the mess that was me! Where I had been unable to make a change, Jesus was showing me how to take a step in a new direction, think in a different way, and choose to just mimic Him. What a concept!
And for all those out there who think you are a single parent – You aren’t! We are never alone, folks. We are never single parents. We always have Jesus with us, willing to lead and teach us. Willing to give us His wisdom, patience, joy, and peace. Peace in parenting? When I lean on Jesus, my stress falls. What a great concept!
If your life can be described as “a mess” or an aspect of your life is “messy,” go into your private place and call on Jesus. He is ready to roll up His sleeves and get to work. Go on – try it!
Call on Jesus by Nicole C. Mullen
