You failed, now what?

We, like most, love to look at Christmas lights. We take a new way home to make sure we see all that’s aglow. Every Christmas Eve we pack in the car and head out on a hunt for the city’s best displays.

Personally, I’m a net-light kind of girl. Perfectly placed nets along a groomed row of bushes. Ooh! Ah! Wow! But if I’m honest, those aren’t the kind of lights that get me talking. No, the light displays that make me reach for my camera and send pics to my friends … those displays, let’s just say they’re not so perfect.

I take the long way home from an errand just to show Luke what I found. I text my friend, Rachel, and she assures me she’ll visit that very same night. I snap pictures. I chat with my friends, “That house? Oh yes, I know what house you’re talking about.”

Funny, huh? The house with the garland trimmed with lights, swooping across the porch; with bushes and trees adorned and shining. Nothing missed. Nothing out of place. Perfect. At this house I observe. I praise. I roll slowly by and whisper, “Wow!” Then I move on.

But the other house. The house who’s display drags out everything in the garage. The one with white lights and colored lights, twinkle lights and chasing lights. A Santa, a sleigh, some reindeer and Mickey. Certainly not perfect – borderline tacky – but this house is the one I talk about. This house I share. This house I drive by over and over.

Could this be true about me? About you?

Could it be that my stumbles (and recoveries) bring people my way? That the combed hair and tidy car. The flawless make-up and spot on accessories grab someone’s attention, but only for a moment? What they really want to see is the Grinch shoved in the corner of my closet?

One of the greatest men of God failed. King David, called a man after God’s own heart, made a mess of his life and others’. He committed adultery then abused his power to have a man killed. (2 Samuel 11) David suffered severe consequences for his actions; but he repented, and God forgave, because He loved David. (2 Samuel 12)

And He loves you.

David said to Nathan [the prophet], ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ And Nathan said to David, ‘The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.'” 2 Samuel 12:13 (ESV)

I hear you, and I agree. No one wants to look at my mess! But, that’s where we end and HE begins. God plugs our messes into His power then places them along the paths of others. To shine.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (KJV)

Our failures do not disqualify us from God’s work. Instead, God’s work through them produces good works that lead us, and others, to Himself.

Thousands of years later David’s mess is still on display. Lit up for the world to see. To learn. To find comfort. To know God. Might you consider pulling out your mess? It may just be what someone wants to see.

Leave a comment! What does your yard look like? (Literal or figurative!)