We get ourselves in to messes of our own making, blame others for it, then we try to hide it so others won’t see it.  What we present to the world when we step out of the doors of our homes each day might be a different person than the person who lives hidden inside for no one else to see.  We wonder why guilt follows us everywhere we go causing our emotions to be all over the map.  That guilt is God’s Holy Spirit calling us to repentance to God—and to Truth, the Person of Jesus Christ, who paid the debt for all our sins, mistakes, and shortcomings in our judgement and actions.  Disobedience to God carries a heavy price—a price too high to bear forever.

We cannot hide what we have done for long from people.  We cannot hide anything from God who knows our hearts and minds inside and out and knows that our soul hungers for Him—especially when we are guilty and haven’t done anything to rid ourselves of the guilt.  We pile on more guilt by thinking we will never get this Jesus life right so we go on doing what we know even when it is bringing us down lower each day.

We cannot run from God.  “Where could I go that you are not there?” proclaims the Psalmist.  (Psalm 139) God created all so He is in all and knows all.  He knows who we are by name, what we are thinking and planning to do right now, what we will do and where we are headed unless we allow Him to transform our thinking which in turn transforms what we do.  We are either for Him or we are not.  We either run to Him or ignore His guidance and run from Him.  The latter is a useless act that leads nowhere.

The nations have turned their backs on God despite all He has done for them and through them.  God wants to bless His people but they have fallen for all the lies of the evil one who owns the culture in which they live.  They are no different than those who do not know God.  Therefore, they are in a mess. 

Amos 2, The Message

^1-3 God’s Message:

“Because of the three great sins of Moab
    —make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer.
She violated the corpse of Edom’s king,
    burning it to cinders.
For that, I’m burning down Moab,
    burning down the forts of Kerioth.
Moab will die in the shouting,
    go out in the blare of war trumpets.
I’ll remove the king from the center
    and kill all his princes with him.”
        God’s Decree.

^4-5 God’s Message:

“Because of the three great sins of Judah
    —make that four—I’m not putting up with them any longer.
They rejected God’s revelation,
    refused to keep my commands.
But they swallowed the same old lies
    that got their ancestors onto dead-end roads.
For that, I’m burning down Judah,
    burning down all the forts of Jerusalem.”

Destroyed from the Roots Up

^6-8 God’s Message:

“Because of the three great sins of Israel
    —make that four—I’m not putting up with them any longer.
They buy and sell upstanding people.
    People for them are only things—ways of making money.
They’d sell a poor man for a pair of shoes.
    They’d sell their own grandmother!
They grind the penniless into the dirt,
    shove the luckless into the ditch.
Everyone and his brother sleeps with the ‘sacred whore’—
    a sacrilege against my Holy Name.
Stuff they’ve extorted from the poor
    is piled up at the shrine of their god,
While they sit around drinking wine
    they’ve conned from their victims.

^9-11 “In contrast, I was always on your side.
    I destroyed the Amorites who confronted you,
Amorites with the stature of great cedars,
    tough as thick oaks.
I destroyed them from the top branches down.
    I destroyed them from the roots up.
And yes, I’m the One who delivered you from Egypt,
    led you safely through the wilderness for forty years
And then handed you the country of the Amorites
    like a piece of cake on a platter.
I raised up some of your young men to be prophets,
    set aside your best youth for training in holiness.
Isn’t this so, Israel?”
    God’s Decree.

^12-13 “But you made the youth-in-training break training,
    and you told the young prophets, ‘Don’t prophesy!’
You’re too much for me.
    I’m hard-pressed—to the breaking point.
I’m like a wagon piled high and overloaded,
    creaking and groaning.

^14-16 “When I go into action, what will you do?
    There’s no place to run no matter how fast you run.
The strength of the strong won’t count.
    Fighters won’t make it.
Skilled archers won’t make it.
    Fast runners won’t make it.
Chariot drivers won’t make it.
    Even the bravest of all your warriors
Won’t make it.
    He’ll run off for dear life, stripped naked.”
        God’s Decree.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Run to God—He is waiting for you with open arms of love and compassion!  The goodness of God ought to lead us to repentance, as it did the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:17; Rom. 2:4)

Stop hiding from God—It is a useless quest that compounds our stress and worry, the biproducts of guilt that eventually destroys us.

“Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.  Psalm 139:7-12

Believe, repent, and be saved for eternity with God because of Jesus, His Son. His gift of obedience is peace.

So, when we are in a mess, don’t mess with God—run to God! Hear and follow His voice above all the other voices of this world.  God will help us when we turn and take the first baby step toward Him.  And He will be with us always!  That is His promise and God does not lie!

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24

Lord,

I confess my mess and ask for your help.  Thank you for delighting in all the details of my life.  I give you my life, all of it, as an offering to you this morning.  Teach me, guide me, lead me through the high and low waters of this life.  Cleanse my heart, renew my mind, refresh my soul with all of you in me, and restore the joy of your salvation at work  in me. 

In Jesus Name, Amen