Much of our life is spent surviving the messy middle. Whether it’s moving to a new house like my friend Jennifer, the remodeling of a room in your home, the rebuilding of an athletic team, or investigating a research topic such as a flourishing life, the bulk of the process happens in the Messy Middle. The unpacked boxes sit stacked in the corner, the remnants of paint, putty, and glue cover every surface, the lack of cohesion between players results in mistakes, and the random articles and books await desperately-needed organization; all examples of the Messy Middle that results from the processes we experience in this life.

All of these above examples provide a vivid picture of the Messy Middle perspective; however, my absolute favorite description of the challenging middle emerges from the energetic and robust story telling by Robert Madu at Fresh Life Church (see below). Describing the “purgatory” of airplane travel and the need for the “fruits of the Spirit like self-control,” Madu’s humorous account of his “plane pet peeves” magnifies one of the tortures of airplane transportation-the middle seat. Capturing listeners with this empathetic tale of travel, Madu provides the Messy Middle as an illustration of how God is often working through those periods of our life when it’s difficult to see where we are going (refer to Beyond the Headlights) or we’d prefer to return to what is familiar, just as the Israelites desired while wandering through the wilderness upon leaving their time of slavery in Egypt.

What resonates the loudest with me from Madu’s message is how much of our true character surfaces when we are stuck in the Messy Middle. As I personally struggle, not only with the Messy Middle of middle age, but of how to live the abundant and flourishing life of John 10, I am reminded that the refinement process God is allowing is a requirement for me to develop the necessary skills that can only emerge on the other side of a struggle. Just as the significant changes of a remodeling project happen when the view is the messiest, God is moving us towards a flourishing life when we are struggling the most and become dependent on Him for survival. The finishing coat of paint on those cabinets and the touch ups don’t have as great an impact as the physical changes that occurred in the middle. When we place our trust of the future into His hands, God thinks Crockpot, Not Microwave. The process will typically move much slower than we prefer; but when we are able to see the view from the Rearview Mirror, His hand is evident in all that occurred.

When moving into a Messy Middle season of life, Madu encourages listeners to “just keep walking, although it may be easier to walk back to what is familiar than to walk forward in faith, we should just keep walking forward by faith into things your eyes have never seen and your ears have never heard.” We can depend on Him rather than relying on our own strategies. Rather than venturing down the self-help section of the local bookstore (after all, “How are you going to help yourself? Yourself got you there!”), Madu suggests that when enduring a wilderness season, “you can’t get yourself out, you need a Savior!”

Whatever Messy Middle you find yourself in today, please know that although it may feel like you are mired in a mess no one can emerge from, you are not alone. You have a Savior that is reliable, infallible, and capable of turning any mess into a flourishing finish! Please feel free to share how God used a Messy Middle in your life that may encourage someone else today!

Reference:

Madu, R. (2017, December 3). “Faith in the Middle: Wild Blue Yonder Series.” Fresh Life Church. [Audio podcast].  Retrieved from https://subsplash.com/freshlifechurch/lb/mi/+8f9wfmf