Mess Cleaner

 Have you ever finished cleaning a room and someone comes behind you and messes it up? Or have you ever completed a project and somehow the project is destroyed?

I have. It can be frustrating.

While reading the book of Genesis, it looks to me as though God has experienced this too. 

At the end of each day of creation, God would look at His creation and say, "it is good."

He created two incredible people who hung out with Him in His beautiful garden. 

Imagine how beautiful it all looked at the beginning of time. Imagine a garden without weeds. 

Then a day came when it all went downhill, Adam and Eve took a bite of the fruit from the forbidden tree. 

The downhill roll has been going and going ever since.

I can only imagine God having to watch the work of His creation as the choices people make messes it up or destroys it.

My husband worked on our yard to make it a wonderful oasis. He made a part of this oasis where I can have a beautiful garden and there are pots on a brick path that goes around the outer edge of the lawn. I love having lots of flowers. 

A few years ago, when we got a new puppy, we discovered he loves flowers too - in his mouth. 

I love the upraised garden Ben filled deep with dirt so I can plant flowering bushes that will take deep root.

So did our older puppy. She loves the dirt - to dig holes in.

I had to save plants, move plants, and resign to having some empty pots. We had to fill holes, and refill holes, and had to resign to put up an ugly chicken wire fence for a boundary. 

Surprisingly, some of the flowers came back and the puppy started to leave a few of them alone. The chicken wire fence stood its ground even with the older puppy trying to get on the other side of it. 

As our puppies were into stuff, that is off limits, we had to set up boundaries, we had to fix things, and we still loved them. They’ve grown, they’ve learned, and they are a lot of fun and bring us joy.

Likewise, God still after all these years loves the creation He made called people. Despite Adam and Eve eating the apple they were advised not to eat, He made them clothes, and He told them how hard it would be outside of the garden. To protect them an angels stood guard in the garden so there wasn't further damage from bad choices.    

As the historical stories in the Bible unfold there are many mishaps, yet God steps in whenever the people call to Him. 

In the New Testament, He steps right down out of heaven and walks with them, talks with them, and heals them. 

Then surprisingly, even though His creation of people started all this mess by their own decisions. He did an amazing thing and sacrificed His life for every terrible thing people do. 

Now that is love. 

Real love. 

Sometimes that sacrifice is hard to understand. Complete forgiveness of our sins. 

Like with our dogs, they cannot replant the flowers they dug up. Our dogs cannot fill the holes and make the yard nice again. There is no way. 

However, my husband and I can replant flowers and bushes, fill holes, and set up boundaries. 

Just like with us, there is nothing we can do to fix our relationship with God, but Jesus could pay the price for all those rotten things people can do in this world.

And He did. The final price. 

Our dogs can learn boundaries, but I doubt we will ever get an “I am sorry” from them. Yet, we love them anyways, and teach them what is right and not so right. 

Forgiveness is like that. We love someone despite what they have done.

God watches His people do some dreadful things that can be unspeakable. 

Yet, He is always there to forgive.He is always there to replant. Fill in the holes.And most of all He is always there to love us.