The beauty of a mess

At the end of the month I was feeling down.  Praise Him that I had an update to write, to remind me of all the things that happened in May and all the ways God was faithful. Part of my being down related to the fact that I didn't really develop any new relationships this month. It felt like failure. That being said, I tend to recognize lies when I see them and, looking back over the past few weeks, I realize that while I may not have made new friendships, the ones I do have are beginning to reach a depth that only comes with time and investment.  And through the deepening relationships, I am reminded...

                                                                                                   ...real relationships are messy.

But they're worth the mess.

There's the 20 year-old girl, married less than 6 months, who is already experiencing the heartache of divorce. There's the friend whose father is terminally ill and watching him live his last days in suffering. There's the friend who has been waiting with the expectation of pregnancy for the last 2 and a half years and continues to come up with disappointment. There's the young friend who is feeling the loss of her best friend and love, due to cultural rules that cannot be broken.

I weep over these ladies, over their heartaches and difficulties they are facing. What can I even say, what can I possibly offer them?

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too." 
2 Corinthians 1:3-5

And oh, how I've experienced that comfort.  I was given assurance through the Holy Spirit that part of my job is to comfort the broken, hurting, seeking people that he has placed in my life. Some of these ladies don't know Jesus and the love and comfort he gives, but they all desperately need him.  And, as I continue in 2 Corinthians, I see that no comfort I give is of myself. God alone gives me sufficiency to minister to these ladies who are broken and hurting.

And at the end of it all, I recognize that a handful of deep, meaningful relationships will likely impact the kingdom far more than a sweeping, surface-level relationship with everyone. I pray that it would be so, that God would make a crown of beauty from the ashes, oil of gladness from the mourning, and joyous praise from their despair.