God Meets Imperfect Families in Their Messiness

Maybe you know this feeling a little too well.

You see other families from the outside, and they look exactly like what you envision a good Christian home to be. Their children don’t squabble, and they obey their parents with almost gleeful enthusiasm. Life seems perfect.

But your reality seems a lot different. You break up two or three spats between the kids before you even leave for church. And once you get there, you paint a smile on your face and answer everybody’s, “How’re you doing?” with a robotic, “I’m great.”

But deep inside you know things aren’t great.

It can be disheartening. You’ve prayed with your kids, taken them to Sunday school, taught them Bible stories, and done everything else you know to do as Christian parents. But somehow your family has ended up on a different set of tracks than the family you admire who looks like they’ve got it all together.

It’s a source of genuine angst for many parents. We know life isn’t a formula. We can’t just plug in the right numbers and have everything work out. And, yet, when our children turn from the Lord or make unwise choices, we look heavenward and wonder, “Where did I go wrong?”

You might be surprised how many families we talk to every day here at Focus who feel immense pressure to raise a family who “has it all together.”

(By the way, no family “has it all together.” Many might appear to have it all working smoothly, but the truth is every family has its challenges. That’s why nothing good comes from comparing your behind-the-scenes struggles with the illusion of perfection you see from the outside. But that’s a blog for another time…)

The fact remains a troubling number of parents feel defeated and overwhelmed by guilt because their children have turned away from their upbringing. That’s why every family would benefit from this truth: Life isn’t perfect, but God meets us in our messiness.

We’re like the woman at the well, whose life was in such disarray she opted to draw water in the oppressive heat rather than endure the scorn of local villagers. Jesus met her at her point of need and embraced her in the midst of her messiness.

I hope you’ll join us today and tomorrow on your local radio station for our broadcast series, “Finding God’s Mercy When Life Is Messy.” I believe you’ll find my conversation with our guest Vicki Courtney encouraging, and it’ll inspire you with what God can do even when life gets a bit messy.

You can also listen online or via our free, downloadable mobile phone app.

Topics: Focus Events Tags: broadcast, faith, family February 17, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura