God Is Not Frustrated With Our Messes

So many of us think that God’s grace is a huge inconvenience to God.

I used to. In fact, up until just today, I was believing that if only I never sinned, and if only Adam hadn’t eaten from that stupid tree, God wouldn’t have to continuously clean-up after me/us; as though it is God’s burden, His tough luck, His “cross to bear.” I know this must sound ridiculous, but stay with me.

When my son makes a mess, which, by the way, is a continuous ordeal, I often feel “put upon,” annoyed, and frustrated, because I’ve told him, just about every day of his 23 years to clean-up after himself, in other words “work on the performance.” Since I often feel this way concerning my son’s performance, I find myself reacting in ways, at times, that are not consistent with my new nature. But, I never stopped to think about the fact that God doesn’t feel that way about me.

I suppose, if I were to be perfectly honest here, I would have to say that I, too, leave things messy and out of order in ways that are only noticeable to me and God, and His response to me is very different than mine towards my son. First of all, God isn’t frustrated or annoyed that I’m not performing well. His cross wasn’t some last ditch effort to fix my mess, not to minimize the price God paid for me. I didn’t force God to sacrifice Himself for me. It was His love for me, wrought before the foundations of the world, that motivated Him, and I would go so far as to say that His sacrifice was His original plan.

God’s love for His creation far exceeds anything you or I do. As I told one of my counselees last week, “Your screw-ups cannot out do God’s redemption and love.”

Here’s what’s so amazing about God. He takes joy in cleaning up after me and redeeming my messes; this is where He gets glorified. Does that mean that I should mess up more so that His grace should abound even more? May it never be! But God, unlike me, takes great pleasure in being God—loving me, forgiving me, sharing His compassion, His mercy and, yes, His unfathomable grace with me.

Every time I mess up I get to experience this truth, which is having a profound effect on my daily living—something the law (a religion based on a system of rules) could never do!

About the Author - Yolanda Stith
Yolanda serves as the Director of Training of Grace Ministries near Washington, D.C. She is an active speaker and teacher developing courses on marriage, addiction, anxiety, depression, codependency, and the Finding Freedom Through Discipleship Counseling Video Series. Yolanda is a Messianic Jewish Believer and a member of the Northern Virginia Tres Dias Community as a Spiritual Director. She and her husband, Ken, who is a part-time staff member at Grace Ministries, live in Potomac, Maryland.