I used to hate baking… specifically the mess it created. I couldn’t stand the mess. The flour all over the counter, the spills that occurred, the clean up afterwards. It was not my idea of a fun time.
A little backstory… I have never liked messes. My room was probably the cleanest of most my friends. I hated having dirt on my hands. I was the “color inside the lines” girl in class. And on the rare occasions I did help my mom in the kitchen, I wanted to clean as I went.
But the older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve realized life is messy. And messes are okay. God promises to make beauty from ashes (Isaiah 61:3). A potter must use dust in their clay to create their masterpiece. And a baker knows that a kitchen with a thin layer of flour on it means a delicious creation is coming.
Tonight I decided to conquer a baking mission that had been on my bucket list for a while… baking a cake. A full blown, chocolate cake. And I knew it was gonna get MESSY. You can’t bake a cake and not make a mess. It’s just not possible.
As I began pouring and mixing ingredients, the unavoidable mess ensued. And I let it. I didn’t feel the need to immediately wipe up the spills or clean the used bowls and spatulas. While I was mixing, I was reminded that God sees my messes and doesn’t immediately try to erase them. He doesn’t see my mess as a problem. He sees my mess as my mission. He sees the good that is coming from it. He knows the hurt will make way for a testimony of how He carried you through. He knows the sin leads to amazing stories of repentance and redemption. He knows that our current suffering is making way for a beautiful story (Romans 5:3-4).
It’s easy to focus on the disarray, the things that are out of place, the heartache. But God focuses on what’s ahead. He can see the whole picture when we can’t. He knows it seems dark and messy right now. He has not left you to deal with it alone. He is right there sitting in the middle of the mess with you, friend. And when it is the right time, He will make beauty from the ashes. In fact, He is the only one who can can create beauty from ashes... and He is really good at it.
Just like when baking a cake, the mess will eventually make way for a delicious dessert. You can’t have the cake, if you don’t first experience the mess of baking it. The same is true for us. We can’t expect to be perfect and whole, to be more like Jesus, without going through the refiners fire. It’s a messy fire and it causes grime and dirt to surface so we can be made more beautiful.
God isn’t wasting this messy season, my friend. He is using it. It may be hard to see right now, but He is… or He will. One day. And in the meantime we have to be okay sitting in the mess, even if it goes against everything in our nature. I believe God will bring beauty out of our ashes. I’ve seen Him do it before.
"Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." Romans 5:3-4