Six years ago I received for Mother’s Day what is probably one of my all-time favorite gifts: a gas-powered leaf blower. Yep. You read that right. Power tools are my love language, especially if they help me battle my OCD obsession with leaves. While I love the live oaks surrounding our house, I don’t love all the leaves. A clean and cute porch devoid of leaves is my preference, thus, the leaf blower is my friend.

A little over a month ago, I walked out the front door to discover a mess on the porch. I was especially irritated because I had just blown off the porches the day before. I cleaned up the mess, went inside and then proclaimed to Brad, as if somehow he was responsible, “Someone is making a mess on the front porch and digging in my macho fern.” Brad quickly pronounced his innocence and denied all things macho fern.

The very next day, I discovered yet another mess in the exact same place, only bigger. My irritation escalated as I cleaned up yet again.

The next two days I guess I never went out the front door, because when I made it back to the front porch three days later, I found the biggest mess of all… but I also found the miracle. A determined little momma bird and a beautifully constructed little nest with two tiny eggs that later became four.

Oh. So she was the mess maker I was complaining about. I’d almost missed the miracle because I didn’t want the mess.

And that little bird got me to thinking…

My eyes are open, and I have no trouble seeing the mess around me. It’s everywhere. I can see it all. But as Jesus told the disciples, sometimes we are seeing but not truly understanding. And it’s not an eyesight problem; it’s a heart condition.

Jesus did not call us to see, but to seek.

We can see the devastation of the recent hurricanes
… or we can seek to help in the aftermath.
We can see the face of a friend who is hurting
… or we can seek her.
We can see the one who is lonely and left out
… or we can seek to be her friend.
We can see one who’s life is complicated and messy
… or we can seek to be a helping hand in the mess.
We can see the work that needs to be done in the church
… or we can seek to serve.
We can see the problems around us
… or we can seek to be the solution.

We can see… or we can seek.

One keeps us on the sidelines where it’s easy to complain and blame.
The other puts us in the game.
One keeps us safe and secure in our own little comfort zone.
The other puts us in the middle of the mess.

But here’s what I know….

We will miss the miracle if we only see the mess.

But when we seek, God allows us to be part of the miracle. And there’s GLORY in that STORY every single time!

May we know Him and make Him known.