Wrecks... Like Us.

Hello and welcome to Scattered Moments. You know, there was a man in our accountability group years ago who made the rest of us look pretty good. At least that's what I thought. He was on his third marriage, his second bankruptcy, and his first accountability partner. He wasn't what you would call a work in progress. He was a wreck in progress. The thing about him, though, was that everything was out there in plain sight. No camouflage, no polished image, no carefully curated reputation. His struggles walked into the door before he did. And if I'm honest, having him in our group made me feel a little like Billy Graham for about three seconds. And then, well, reality showed up. Because while his wreckage was visible, mine was not. Some messes are public, some are hidden. Some leave scars everyone can see. Others settle deep beneath the surface where nobody notices them. Greed, resentment, pride, ungodly ambition, jealousy, the need to be admired, the need to be right, the quiet bitterness we carry like a pocket knife. Those hidden things can be more dangerous than the obvious ones because they slip beneath the radar. They sit quietly in the dark corners of the soul and convince us that because nobody sees them, they must not be that serious. But the psalmist refuses to let us play that game. In Psalm 130 he writes, If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? Who indeed? Not the man in our accountability group, not me, not you. Strip away the mass and the biographies and the resumes and the church titles and the carefully chosen photographs, and we discover something humbling. We are all wrecks in a thousand ways. We are all standing in the need of prayer, as the old hymn goes. We are all one bad decision, one selfish impulse, one unguarded moment away from disaster. But then comes one of the most beautiful words in Scripture. But with you there is forgiveness. I'm glad that's the next line. I'm relieved that the psalmist didn't write, with you I will hide in fear and hope you don't notice. No, with you there is forgiveness, not shame, not rejection, not exile, forgiveness. When we cannot stand in our own righteousness, and that's basically all of us, all of the time, we have a father who invites us to run toward him instead of running away from him. That's why confession is so powerful. Every secret loses its strength when it's brought into the light. Every hidden wound begins to heal when it is uncovered. Every burden becomes lighter when it is shared with the one who already knows. The ground at the foot of the cross is level. The bankrupt and the successful, the addict and the pastor, the prodigal and the Pharisee, the wreck everyone sees and the wreck nobody sees. All of us stand in the same place, needing mercy, receiving grace. That is why it's called gospel. Not good advice, not good intention, not good behavior, good news. The good news that wrecks like us can be forgiven, restored, and loved by a Savior who knows us completely and welcomes us anyway. That, my friend, is news worth carrying into the rest of your day. Hey, thanks for joining me for Scattered Moments. Until next time, take care. Notice the scattered moments and share the grace.