“Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” – Psalm 51:7 (NIV – 1984)
The other day I made for myself a simple plate of spaghetti. Of course, spaghetti is not inherently simple when you consider the red tomato sauce in which it is covered. My dinner was fully prepared – spaghetti drenched in sauce with some added mushrooms and parmesan cheese. I loaded the carbs onto my plate after a day of activity and exercise. My husband was out of town, so I grabbed my dinner from the kitchen counter to take it to the living room. My spaghetti was in one hand; my iced tea was in the other. Before I got past the edge of the kitchen, my balancing act proved unsuccessful, as the spaghetti slid off one side of my plate and splattered everywhere as it landed. The four-foot drop produced quite a mess! The white linoleum in that corner edge of my kitchen was covered in wet noodles, red sauce with cheese, and various mushrooms, which – just seconds ago – looked very appetizing. But now, it looked like someone had gotten quite ill. The dinner hit the floor with such force that sauce splattered onto the surrounding walls and carpet. In fact, I found sauce on the front door of my house, a half-story down and seven feet from the accident!
Though I was hungry, tired, and much wanting to eat; my immediate concern was to clean up the mess before stains set in. I went to the carpet and painted walls first, scrubbing with a good cleaning solution. The more I cleaned, the more I recognized additional spots of the sauce in unbelievable places. Finally, after picking up large heaps of the mess and dumping it into the garbage can, I got down on my hands and knees and started wiping away at the linoleum.
As I cleaned and scrubbed while kneeling on the floor, I thought, “What an inconvenience. What a dumb thing I just did. What a waste of time. This is annoying.” My busy arm came to a standstill as God dropped this beautiful reminder in my heart, “Shelli, this is what I do all the time – clean up the messes of the people I love. My heart is a heart of restoration. Though I don’t have to – for I have no obligations – I choose to be in the business of cleaning up messes, both big and small. People sin and turmoil comes; I forgive and I restore.”
Suddenly, my whole perspective changed. I was no longer bothered by the work I was doing. This inconvenience was now a hint of God’s unfathomable grace. He does not have to, but He willingly works continually to clean up our hearts and make them like new. He will even apply His heart to the restoration of this entire universe one day; though the sum total of its current pain, disaster, confusion, and messes seems insurmountable. God’s love and power are infinite and far-reaching. Just as I went to the farthest places spaghetti sauce splattered, so God goes to the furthest and deepest places human sin wreaks havoc. Projecting into the future, the Bible boldly declares, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away…He will wipe away every tear from their eyes…And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.'” (Revelation 21:1, 4, 5, ESV)
In the meantime, our God gets down “on the floor” where we are to clean things up. He sent His Son to live here, suffer here, and pay for sin here. God continually works in the business of cleaning and restoration. Out of pure and unbelievable love, He keeps cleaning and restoring.
Do you see nothing in front of you but a terrible mess? Do you see nothing in you but a disaster? Do you see nothing around you but wreckage? Hear the heart of God, the One who cleans so much more than splattered spaghetti:
“Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” – Psalm 51:7 (NIV – 1984)
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” – II Corinthians 5:17 (NIV – 1984)
“You will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.” – Isaiah 58:12 (NIV – 1984)
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted.” – Isaiah 61:1 (ESV)
“Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases.” – Psalm 103:2-3 (ESV)
“I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me.” – Jeremiah 33:8 (NIV – 1984)