Scripture: Genesis 21:14-19

Have you ever felt like you messed up something so badly that there is no hope of it being fixed?

In Genesis, God promises Abraham and Sarah a son, but He was not coming through in the timeframe they wanted. Sarah possessed a slave girl whom she gave to Abraham to get pregnant, and the plan was for the two of them to raise the child as their own. Long story short, this does not go well, and not only does Sarah abuse Hagar (the slave girl), she and Abraham send Hagar and Ishmael  (the child) away to the desert.

If God was a callous God who was interested only in our obedience, how would He have dealt with Abraham and Sarah? Would God have punished them? Maybe even gone back on His promise to give them a son?

But He doesn’t. God honors His promise, and not just in the birth of Isaac. God also provides for and protects Ishmael, the product of Abraham and Sarah’s disobedience.

God is in the business of taking our messes and making something beautiful of them. He is in the business of saying to us, “It’s ok. I got this.” God desires our obedience, our following Him in the everyday of life, but He loves us in spite of our disobedience. So much so that when we did not obey, Jesus DID.  He went to the cross for your sake, reconciled you to God. and offers you His grace.

God took what seemed like the greatest mess in history and made something beautiful of it, and He is inviting you to trust Him to do the same with whatever mess you have made.

What mess have you made that you do not believe can be fixed?