Okay, you know how we say we are a “hot mess?” Do we say that to brag? No, we are just admitting it! Some people think they are “all that and a bag of chips,” as my friend Kim says … LOL! We all know those people. Those people whose goal in life is to be perfect. They almost intimidate and turn us “normal” girls off. (I use the term, “normal,” loosely!) It makes us think, “If perfection is the standard, then, I’m not even going to try.”
The ladies that I most admire are the friends, co-workers, and church members who seem to make life look amazingly easy. They seem to have it all together! They appear to be the greatest moms and the sweetest wives. These are the women I have repeatedly vented to or turned to over the years and often found myself thinking, “They won’t ever understand!” At times, I even questioned myself, “WHY am I turning to them?” Honestly, maybe I was looking for advice or tips. Time after time, it’s those caring friends that would often stop me and say, “I am so glad that you shared that! I feel the same way!” Many times, what I heard them trying to share was, “No matter how it appears, I am there … I am a hot mess too!” I have come to understand that some women don’t even realize that other women feel the same feelings/emotions too. A number of women don’t even have the comfort level to say those things out loud. But, deep down … we all feel the same!
We, as women, are our worst enemies and our worst critics. Yet, we try to go on pretending like we are fine. Outwardly, a smile is on our face. But, inwardly, we are dying.
We’re dying, We’re crying,
We’re searching, We’re wishing,
We’re hoping, We’re trying
We’re desperate!
Yet, we often beat ourselves up with guilt; thinking we are the only ones who don’t measure up.
Satan has astonishing power and wants to trap us. While it is true that he can’t steal our salvation, he CAN rob us of our joy! Ladies, why? Why do we not see Satan when he is on the prowl? The Bible makes this very clear in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
(Keep in mind this next illustration does not apply to people in Africa, zookeepers, or people who own exotic animals. LOL! But …) I don’t know about you, but the only time that I have ever seen a lion is at the zoo or possibly a circus. Usually, there is a huge piece of glass, bars, fencing, or a rock wall … at any rate, there is a distance between me and the lion. The barrier has never stopped a lion from being a lion. He still roars, intimidates, paces back and forth, and will even pounce on the glass. Satan is just the same, Ladies! He’s out there on the prowl, but we can have confidence in knowing that we have a Protector, a Savior who is far more powerful than Satan!
Satan relentlessly tries to trip us up. He attempts to trip us with guilt, unworthiness, past sin, anger, rage … he simply has NO limits. So, when I say we are a “hot mess,” what I am saying is that none of us have it “all together.” If we were perfect, or even could be perfect, we would have no need for Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Admitting that we are a “hot mess” is the first step. However, Jesus does not want us to stay in that place.
There was a time when I almost threw my hands up and felt that I had blown my testimony. Then Jesus gently reminded me, “No, Ma’am! This IS your testimony.” My failures do not define me. Isaiah 43:18-19 reminds us, “Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” So …
No matter where you are,
No matter where you’ve been,
No matter what you’ve done …
You are never too bad or too far away to come to know Jesus in a personal way! If you have stumbled, it’s never too late to restore the relationship that you once had with Jesus. Now what? What will you do?
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