You can have the right position but the wrong posture.

Bottom Line

God consistently meets us where we are—no matter the mess—with lovingkindness.

God meets us where we are.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
Genesis 3:8-9

And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
   the whole earth is full of his glory.”
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
Isaiah 6:3-6

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
‍Luke 5:8-11

God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8

Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
Ephesians 2:4-5

God temporarily tolerates our mess in the process of inviting us out of our mess.

Action Steps

Create some space to prayerfully reflect on the following questions:

• How have you experienced God’s lovingkindness in the midst of your mess?
• How have you experienced God progressively revealing messy stuff in your life?
• How have you related to other people when their lives are full of sin?
• Practice: This week when you notice the poop in someone else’s life, move toward them with lovingkindness and an invitation into relational trust with you.