After a week away from home, I pulled into the driveway bummed that vacation was over, but excited to settle back into routine and give my sweet kitty some cuddles. I neared the garage, peered over to take a peek at my flower garden, and my jaw dropped.
What on earth happened?! I fumed out loud to no one.
My hanging basket that once dripped with luscious violet, yellow, and flamingo pink flowers was now a crispy, scraggly, oh-so-thirsty skeleton. As a woman who loves her plant babies, I was livid.
Seriously, how did this happen?!
Every time we leave for a trip I leave my pet sitter a cheat sheet for how to take care of Finn and keep tabs on the house while we’re gone. It’s a bullet-pointed document that makes it incredibly easy for the sitter to make sure they’ve taken care of each item. During the summer, this list includes – water the plants. Somehow this item was clearly forgotten.
I jumped out of my car and into action. Check the soil – dry as a bone. Water. Add liquid fertilizer. And pray that my baby would pull through.
The next morning I went out to check on the victim. Much to my surprise, a few purple flowers pressed their way through the carnage - a tiny glimpse of restoration.
At this point, I had no choice but to give this poor plant a hack job of a haircut. I trimmed off everything dead (most of the plant), took a step back and thought, “Oh good grief, how long is it going to take for this plant to look normal again?”
As the thought ran through my mind, I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony. I’m in a season where I’m constantly asking the Lord a similar question, “How long until this struggle is over, Lord?”
The Messy Middle
The Lord teaches me a lot of life lessons through my garden, and right now, He is speaking into a struggle I like to call “the messy middle.”
The messy middle is the space in time before restoration. It’s the uncomfortable land of in-between where we crave healing, restoration, or clarity.
This wonky plant of mine is most definitely in the messy middle – hah. But for humans, this space takes on all sorts of shapes and forms. For some it might be a rough patch in marriage, a difficult season of parenting, or waiting for healing from an injury or illness. For me, it’s often a term I use when anxiety rages and I wait for peace to show its face.
And I think we can all take one quick look around the stressful climate of our world right now and easily slap the term “messy middle” on the current state of all the things – don’t you think?
Whatever form it takes, I HATE the messy middle. It’s uncomfortable. It’s exhausting. And it requires a lot of patience and hope. But here’s the truth God keeps reminding me every time I find myself in one of these situations; there is goodness to be found in the mess.
Jesus Came in the Messy Middle
Romans 5:6-8 says, “You see, at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” [NIV Translation]
While we were still powerless.
While we were still sinners.
Christ died for us.
We have an awesome God who constantly enters hard and broken places to show us how much He loves us. There are examples all throughout scripture of how He does this (just think about the Israelites and how many times God saved them). But this passage is the ultimate example.
Jesus intentionally came in the messy middle. He came while we were still sinners, so that in our brokenness we could experience the presence of God.
Friends, God is the master of the messy middle! As easy as it is to get sucked into the heaviness that surrounds us and believe the lie that there is no hope to be found, we have to keep coming back to this truth. Not only does God show up in heavy places, He makes a life giving way through it.
In Isaiah 43, God says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze…See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” – Isaiah 43: 2,19
This is what the Lord did for us through Jesus, and what He continues to do for us through the Holy Spirit every single day.
Relying on God in the Messy Middle
In 2 Corinthians Paul talks about serious troubles - ones so heavy he struggled to endure them. And in verses 9-10 he speaks this truth, “Indeed we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us.” (NIV Translation)
Just as I’ve witnessed my hanging basket slowly come back to life post thirst and wonky haircut, I am confident that someday your struggle and mine will be over. But until that day comes, whether it is on this side of heaven or not, we have an opportunity to experience abundant life – and the secret is there in Paul’s words.
Rely on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us again.
In the midst of struggle, we have two choices:
Focus on the pain and ask the Lord over and over again “How long until this struggle is over?”
Rely on Jesus, and experience the hope, joy, peace, and comfort that comes when we fix our eyes on Him
It is not easy – but I can wholeheartedly say that it’s in the moments I surrender my fears, worries, anger, or pain to the Lord and truly rely on Him where I experience more peace and relief than anything the world could offer.
Jesus came in the messy middle of our broken world so that we could live a life of abundance even when we’re hurting. No matter how dark and heavy our world is, that is the hope we have in Christ Jesus. As we navigate this heavy season in life, let’s stand our ground by setting our hope on the One who will continue to deliver us, and use our struggles as an opportunity to rely on Him.