Sometimes, life happens. And causes a mess. Today was one of those days. I got a call at 8:00 this morning that water was gushing into our church entryway. A sprinkler pipe had burst, and you can see by the picture what resulted.

Cleanup wasn’t bad, and we had some capable people on the job almost instantly. And only some carpet and ceiling tile was affected. As far as messes go in life, this was fairly small. It could have been much worse.

What kind of messes are you facing in your life? Maybe small, maybe large, or perhaps somewhere in between. Either way, I feel pretty confident that if you are reading this (and thus alive and breathing), you are facing some messy stuff. Because life is messy.

But floors can be redone; pipes can be fixed; ceilings can be replaced. Restoration is possible.

I believe that the same is true of our lives. Mess will happen — probably is happening. But God is in the restoration business. He is the one who meets us in our mess — no matter how big or small — and brings hope in the midst of it.

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to attend a church conference in Las Vegas. (I know, I know, who goes to a church conference in Vegas? Well, I did, and I learned that God is doing some really cool things in the place some are now calling “Grace City.”) While in Vegas, I heard a minister describe one of the reasons God is doing some exciting things there: people aren’t afraid to be honest about their mess. They start to get involved in church, and are willing to say: here’s the mess in my life. What should I do?

Maybe the folks in Vegas are on to something — because the only way to find hope in the midst of the mess is not to deny it, minimize it, or blame someone else. The only hope in the midst of mess is to own it, honestly — and find God’s grace right in the middle of it. Even when it falls through the ceiling and messes up the carpet.