Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.

Matthew 5:5

Recently, I’ve abandoned the practice of putting on make-up before entering my quiet time with the Lord.

Why?

Well, I’d like to say it’s because I’m resting in the fact that God says I’m beautiful just as I am, but…

in all transparency, it’s because I leave my quiet time most mornings with smudged mascara, a runny nose, and tear trails down my cheeks.

In short, I come out looking like a “hot mess”…which kind of defeats the purpose of wearing make-up and brings me to the real point of this post.

I’ve come to greatly dislike the concept of being a “hot mess”.

A quick Google search of the phrase “hot mess slogans” reveals the following:

• I’m a hot mess and I own it.
• All aboard the hot mess express.
• I’m not a hot mess, I’m a spicy disaster.
• Hot mess mama.
• Stressed, blessed, and a total hot mess.

Sisters, I’m gonna call it right here: We have got to stop embracing “hot mess” like a badge of honor or as an excuse for choosing to live stressed.

God’s Word is clear on the matter of overwhelm and stress:

• Philippians 4:6 – Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
• 2 Timothy 1:7 – For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.
• Isaiah 40:30-31 – Youths may become faint and weary,
  and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in the Lord
  will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not faint.
• Luke 12:22 – Then he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, don’t worry about your life, what you will eat; or about the body, what you will wear.”

And so much more…

When I rise from my quiet time with the Lord, I might look like a hot mess, but in truth, I am gracefully broken.

Matthew 5:5 tells us that the meek are blessed by God but we often confuse the term “meek” with “weak”.

When I choose to be a hot mess, to let my schedule overflow with busyness, to embrace the lies the enemy tells me about myself, to feel stressed – or worse – to wear that stress like some kind of accomplishment – then I am choosing to be weak – not meek.

When I choose to embrace God’s truth, God’s will for my life, then I am choosing to be meeked by God – to allow Him to break me of my will and my plans and follow His instead.

Sisters, when we choose to let God break us, He does so with such grace and love, allowing us to leave our worries with Him and raising us up in His perfect timing (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:6-7).

When we choose to let God break us, He gives us strength and power and peace and wisdom and so much more (Psalm 25:9; Psalm 149:4; 1 Timothy 2:7).

So I pose to you this morning:

Why choose to be a hot mess, when you can be gracefully broken instead?

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