The Mess & The Mystery

I am the type of person who doesn’t like messiness. I get stressed out if my room is untidy, I always clear notifications on my phone as soon as humanly possible (I hate accumulating those little red bubbles!), and I love going to the beach but hate the feeling of sand on my feet after I leave. On a more serious note, I oftentimes find myself fighting the urge to retreat when relationships get messy.

God, though, seems to have no problem with the messiness of life. The very incarnation of Jesus shows us this, and is only one of many examples in Scripture. Recently, I was reading through the book of John, and came to chapter 9, when Jesus encounters a blind man.

“As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him,

“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered,“It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.” (John 9:1-7, ESV)

The story goes on, and I encourage you to go back and read the whole chapter to see how it plays out, but I want to focus in on this beginning portion of the story. As I was reading this, I considered how I would have responded had I been in this blind man’s shoes. Here I am, having been blind since birth, likely living with the cultural assumption of the day that my blindness was either my fault or my parents’ fault, and I am approached by this Man. I hear an exchange between the Man and His followers - and He speaks a statement of profound hope: “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed” (v. 3). Is He saying what I think He’s saying? Is there hope for me? A few moments later, I hear what sounds like… spitting? Then, I feel a wet, probably unpleasant substance touch my eyes. I have a decision to make. Do I recoil because Someone is wiping mud in my eyes, or do I embrace what’s happening?

If we’re honest, we all have areas of our lives that we want God to act in — maybe, like this blind man, it’s a debilitating health condition. Maybe it is the loss of a job or the death of a dream. Maybe it is a broken relationship or a broken heart. Maybe it is an addiction or a sin cycle you just can’t seen to break free from. Whatever it is for you, first know that Jesus sees you. He cares, and He knows what you need… even if it doesn’t look like what you think that it should.

I love this passage because it touches on the mystery of God. Why did Jesus spit in the dirt? We aren’t given an explanation, and I think that is the beauty of this story. God doesn’t have a formula for miracles. He doesn’t work in the same way every time - that should remind us that He is God and we are not. In this encounter with the blind man, Jesus surely could have simply spoken a word and healed Him, but He chose instead to make mud. Jesus intentionally made the situation messier (literally, with mud) in order for this man to be healed and for God’s works to be displayed. He could have chosen a “cleaner” method of healing, but He didn’t.

This pushes my buttons. I don’t like messy. I want things to be nice and neat and wrapped up in a bow. But if I am so narrowly focused on keeping my life nice and neat, I will miss out on what God has for me. If I am asking God to move and act in my life, I have to be surrendered to the idea that it will likely not look how I want it to. I might have to get some mud on my face. I might have to have my heart exposed. If we ask God to move in our lives, we have to know that He moves in the ways He sees fit. That will not always fit into my box. As C.S. Lewis puts it, He’s not a tame Lion.

It all comes down to trust - do I trust that God has what is best for me? Do I trust that His ways are better than my own? Do I trust that He has a better perspective to see what I really need? When those questions are settled in my heart, the choice to embrace the messy is clear. And what an adventure it is to follow this God who goes with us into the mess of life — this High King who kneels in the dirt and makes mud.

“Aslan is a lion - the Lion, the great Lion." "Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he - quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.” … "Safe?" said Mr. Beaver ..."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.” - C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe