Guest Blog by Mukkove Johnson
God Never Wastes Your Pain
Bring Your Mess to His Majesty
Give it to God. & Let go and let God.
Those phrases have made my blood boil. Especially in seasons when I was hurting and doing the best I could.
f I knew how to give it to God or let it go don't you think I would have already?!
What if I've already done all I know to let go and give it to God? What then?!
All these well-meaning platitudes did was convince me I was more of a broken mess than ever. Clearly what worked for everyone else didn't work for me. I must be the problem. I was supposed to know what to do and I didn't.
No one wanted to hear about my mess, or I couldn't make them understand. It seemed that listening to my struggle would contaminate them.
God doesn't treat your pain that way. He is not embarrassed, overwhelmed, or afraid of your pain. There is nothing you are going through now or have gone through in the past that will keep Him away. God uses your pain for good.
What Changed?
Though I "knew" how much God loved me I still struggled to believe it.
How could He love such a mess? Didn't I need to be more like Jesus first? Didn't I need to obey better? What about all my negative thinking? What about being out of control when I got mad at my kids? If I couldn't do anything right how could a perfect God love me?
I dug into scripture to see how Jesus dealt with the emotional wounds of women. That's where Mess to Majesty: Let God Love You in Your Mess was born.
When Jesus encountered the woman at the well He called out her sin. He did not shame her for it. He offered a safe place and a solution to the wounds in her soul, not her circumstance. He didn't ask her to get married, move out, or anything. He offered the gift of forgiveness and acceptance.
The woman who had been bleeding for 12 years broke the law and touched Jesus's robe in public. She was healed. He knew she was healed and could have kept walking. They were in a hurry after all. Jesus stopped to talk to her. To call her “Daughter,” is a term of tenderness and respect.
His Majesty
How can a perfect God love imperfect people?
It's who He is. He is good, kind, and gentle. He provides everything you need, including the power to live the life He created you for. It's too good to be true but it is true.
I could accept that answer in my head. My heart wasn't so sure.
I'm so grateful that through years of struggles and striving I am learning to take my mess to His Majesty. I wish I could say I've done it. I've arrived. I can't because that isn't true. I do it again and again. I'm always growing, seeing new things, and falling back into old things. But God knows, knew before I was ever born before Jesus ever died and He's okay with it. I'm learning to be.
I've learned to bring my mess to His Majesty. You can, too.
You Can Bring Your Mess to His Majesty
1. The first step is to look at your mess, not clean it up. See where you are and what you believe about yourself.
Have you identified as a mess? Are you overwhelmed with your circumstances? Do you feel you make a bigger mess of everything you try to fix? What is your mess? Where are you right now?
You need to know what you are giving Him. Knowing what you are giving Him will make what He gives you in return so much more valuable. You need to know where you are to get where you want to go.
God gives you beauty for ashes. What is in those ashes? Broken dreams? Disappointments? Lost relationships? Shame? Poor choices? Sickness?
2. Once you are clear about your mess and what you want to give to God consider it's possible to not be a mess.
What if something besides the way you see things could be true? What if you are already accepted? What if God wants your mess? What if you are something besides a mess?
3. Reflect on who God is and what He is like. Look at how Jesus interacted with hurting people.
4. Give Him your mess
Do something to give Him your mess. It can be creative or simple.
You can pray. Tell Him what you are giving Him. This is for your benefit. He already knows. Be specific. You can write it down. Visualize yourself handing it to Him or nailing it to the cross. Ask Him how to give it to Him. It's okay to ask for help.
The more you interact with giving God your mess the bigger the impact will be. If He tells you to reach out like you are handing it to Him - do it. If He says to throw it on the ground and stomp on it - do it!
5. Receive His Majesty
Listen for His response. I find it helpful to start writing. It gets my thoughts out of the way a bit easier. Start with something like. "God, I gave You my mess. What do You have for me?" then keep writing. Don't judge the thoughts that are coming, just keep writing. When you are done you can evaluate if the things you wrote agree with the scripture. If you need to ask a trusted friend to review what you wrote.
Do something creative or intentional to receive.
Take what you wrote down and receive truth and encouragement for each item on the list. Find a scripture for each one.
Say, "I receive Your Majesty and the gifts you have for me." Receive Jesus into those areas you just emptied by giving Him your mess.
Reach out and take the gift. Visualize opening a package.
6. Walk with His Majesty
Giving your mess to His Majesty is only the beginning. I pray it is a deep and powerful beginning. The journey continues as you learn to walk with the new identity of "daughter of God" instead of "mess".
Things will still happen to make you feel like a mess. What do you do? Don't despair. Don't think it didn't work. Remember learning takes practice and experience.
Write it down so you can remember.
Speak it out.
Find the scriptures that support what you heard. Personalize them.
Practice feeling like a daughter of God. How does that feel? What do you think? How do you respond in situations that tell you you are a mess?
You can spend time thinking about this, journaling, or my favorite - Heart Doodling. Heart Doodling is a set of tools that combine prayer, simple drawing, color, and journaling. It uses these tools to create space for you to connect with God and your emotions. You can practice how you will feel, think, and act when you believe what He said about you is true.
Heart Doodling with Jesus is a regular part of my healing, growth, and renewing my mind. It is also becoming a large part of my coaching because of the gentle and powerful transformations clients are seeing. I use and teach it as I walk with women. I’m a partner on their journey as they give their mess to His Majesty. I do individual coaching, group coaching, and mentoring in the Heart Doodling with Jesus membership.
Links
Website: MukkoveJohnson.com
Kingdom Mother's Rise Up
Podcast: MukkoveJohnson.com/blog
Community: Mukkove.link/community
Heart Doodling with Jesus: Mukkove.link/HeartDoodling
JOIN US Tuesday, Dec 27 at 6:30 pm MST
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