The Big Mess
By Shauna Leis
“The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the Lord said, ‘I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air – for I am grieved that I have made them.’”
Genesis 6:5-7
The earth was indeed a mess – a moral mess. God had created all of these humans, and they had greatly increased in number to populate the earth. However, after being created, they had been cast out of the Garden of Eden for eating fruit from the forbidden tree. Also, their downward spiral in sin continued after leaving the Garden. From the description in Genesis above, every inclination in the hearts of the humans on the earth at this time was for evil. The Message translation says it this way, “God saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil – evil, evil, evil from morning to night.” God was hurt at the mess that had developed because the creation had turned its back on the Creator. So, God desired to wipe the human race from the earth and start all over again.
Have you seen Wall-E by Pixar Pictures? It is an adorable movie. The main theme of the movie is that humans have again made a mess of the earth, but this time it is a physical mess. Humans have created so much garbage that it covers the earth, and the humans are shipped off the planet to drive around in space until robots left behind clean it all up. Thousands of years later, one lone robot is left to continue the clean-up and try to get the earth back into a suitable state for living.
In Genesis one man caught God’s attention. Out of all the people that were on the earth, only one man is mentioned as being worth saving. “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God,” from Genesis 6:8-9. Have you ever noticed that it is always the people who walk with God who find His favor? There definitely seems to be a connection to the fact that several of the great heroes of the Bible were signified as righteous men who walked with God.
Another thing that I believe is significant about Noah is that he did not try to fix or clean up the mess himself. He merely listened to God, built the ark, brought aboard the animals, and waited for the rain to start. He likely endured extreme ridicule as he was building the ark, too, as he talked to people about this “rain” that was coming soon. People had never seen rain before Noah’s time as the streams of the earth fed it and kept it nurtured. So, Noah endured all that was laid before him by God and just simply listened. And, since Noah listened to God, God used him to help clean up the mess that had been made on the earth.
Sweet friend, we are called to do the same as Noah. Have you ever thought that you were just too dirty or too much of a mess for God to clean up? Have you tried to clean it up yourself instead of just bringing it straight to Him? Dear one, on several occasions God cleaned up much bigger messes than you and I could ever even imagine. “But”, you say, “You do not realize the things that I have done!” No, you are right. I do not know the things that you have done. But, God does, and He loves you anyway. He does not ask you to clean up first and then come to Him. Instead, in Matthew 11 He says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Jesus wants you to come to Him right now, just as you are, full of your messes, and give it all to Him. Let Him do the clean up job. It is His specialty.
Pray with me: Dear Jesus, our lives are indeed a mess right now. Our penalty should be death forever, but instead You loved us so much that You gave up Your life that we might also live forever with You. Lord, we also pray right now for this earth and all of the people in it as it is a moral mess right now. There is so much evil in the world, but there is nothing that is beyond Your love and Your control. We give our lives and our messes over to You for a special clean up. Go into all of the crevices, and pull out everything that is not bringing You glory. Fill us up with Your Holy Spirit so we can be like Noah and walk with You ever day. We love You so very much and pray all of this in Your precious name, Jesus Christ! Amen.