Lately, when people ask me how I’m doing, I want to say, “Let me tell you a story.”

A story of how much of a mess I have been this year.

A story of the God who has met me there.

When I came to him saying, “I can’t do this,” he said to me. “I know. But I will work through your weaknesses.”

And when I still come to him saying, “I’m struggling to see your goodness here,” he reminds me “apart from me you have no good thing.”

This is the story I want to tell–the story of the One whose strength is most glorified in weakness.

When we feel invisible, He is the one who sees us.

When we feel shame and regret, He tells us, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

When we are fearful, He is our refuge.

When we chase big dreams, He is our sustaining strength.

When we find ourselves with lives a bit more smaller and mundane than we expected, He breathes life into the small places and fills them with meaning.

When we gravitate towards living lives that serve ourselves, he asks us to die to ourselves and serve others.

When we feel envy, He asks us to taste and see that He is good. And in all these ways, he is enough.

Even when we feel completely broken & bankrupt, with the Spirit’s promise of redemption in our hearts we can say with David, “Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.” 

He is our portion, our inheritance. And he is enough.

In the middle of my mess, it may not feel like enough. In the middle of chaos and confusion, doubts and insecurities, heartbreak and deep disappointment, it’s so difficult to drink from the deep wells of life He offers us.

But just like he has for all of history, God steps right into the chaos, unfazed. The answer to our brokenness is never try harder, pick yourself up and keep moving, just smile and count your blessings. The answer he always gives us is Himself. 

The answer of Himself may not tie things up in a neat little bow like we want. It may still ask us to walk a difficult, confusing, or messy road. But it is possible to have deep joy in the midst of the mess when he meets us there. And it is always a more beautiful story to tell than anything I could write on my own.