I’ll Take the Mess | Today’s Reminder to Count Your Blessings

Aaron Soto, senior pastor of Apostolic Truth Church in Appleton, Wisconsin, and gifted blogger, reminds readers to count blessings amid life’s messes.

King Solomon, blessed with divine wisdom, said that a stall with no ox stays clean, but there is profit from having an ox in the stall. (See Proverbs 14:4.)

In Bible times owning an ox was like owning the biggest John Deere tractor. The ox could do the heavy lifting, it could plow more fields, and it could maximize harvest. This is why Solomon said there was much to be gained by the strength an ox.

But Solomon also observed that if you have the benefit of owning an ox, you also have the burden of cleaning a messy stall. I will not elaborate, but a big ox makes big messes.

What if a farmer in Bible times only obsessed about the mess his ox made? Day after day he would complain to his family and friends about the inconvenience of having to clean up the ox’s mess.

A mess means there is something valuable in the stall.

After a while, his friends might be tempted to say, “Hey, we can fix that. We know how to permanently ensure that you have a clean stall every day: Get rid of the ox!”

Count Your Blessings

The farmer would quickly remember, “If there’s no ox, there’s no harvest!”

Solomon’s proverb is profound. It gives us a positive context for messes. A mess means there is something valuable in the stall.

It’s far better to have messes because you are living a productive life for God than to have a perfectly tidy life because you are isolated and uncommitted. Click To Tweet

Living a good and productive life can be messy. Training our children, serving others, and keeping our faith on track on top of school and work can be chaotic and challenging. The active Christian life may never have that immaculate showroom look; we may have smudges of frustration and cluttered calendars. Being a true Christ-follower, leading a family, and serving others can be a bit messy, but there will be much gain from those things.

Leading a family and serving others can be a bit messy, but there will be much gain from those things.

It’s far better to have messes because you are living a productive life for God than to have a perfectly tidy life because you are isolated and uncommitted. Yes, I’ll take the mess.