Life is messy; it’s a messy business. Sometimes you have to shovel it up and clean up behind it. When you do, there’s no way to look real dignified doing it, no matter how hard you try.

My oldest son is an idealist and perfectionist. I’ve warned him that idealism and perfectionism can only lead to endless frustration in this old fallen world. Still, he continuously tries to neatly wrap up everyday of his life and place a big pretty ribbon on top. Life defies such neat packaging, however, always breaking out and spilling all over the place.

If it were not for the Bible, we would inevitably be forced to conclude that life is constantly spinning out of control and that we’re all hapless victims of cruel fate. Yet, the Scripture assures us that there is a throne in heaven and one who sits upon it (Revelation 4:2). Heaven’s throne is always occupied. God is sovereign and always in control, no matter how out of control things may appear.

"Why then,” you may ask, “does life throw us curves when we need easy pitches to hit?” We’d all be homerun hitters if all life tossed us was lobs straight down the middle. None of us would have any trouble staying in the batter’s box and swinging away. But when life starts hurling hard sliders and spitballs; that is, when it gets difficult and even unfair, that’s when we learn whether or not we have enough nerve to stay in the box and keep swinging away.

In His most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught us that the true test of life is not in our actions, but in our reactions (Matthew 5:38-48). According to our Lord, the children of God are distinguished by: (1) Turning the other cheek to all who strike them (2) Giving their coats to those who take away their shirts (3) Going a second mile with those who force them to go one mile (4) Blessing those who curse them (5) Loving those who hate them, and (6) praying for those who persecute them.

Anyone can do the right thing when everything is going right. But only the children of God can do the right thing when everything is going wrong. Thus, were it not for life’s messes, the clean living of the children of God would be undetectable. Unlike the rest of the world, the children of God are not soiled by the messy business of life. Instead, we are to stand out in this world as God’s “cleanup hitters,” those who stay in the box and keep swinging away no matter what life throws at us.