Who isn’t laughing at this?!  Seriously!  Even if you don’t like tacos, I’m sure there is some uber-messy food that you can put in place of the word “taco!”  And believe it or not, this illustration of a taco is packed with some good theology!  So let’s get to it!

We all have times when we are like a taco.  Our hard shell gets cracks and breaks, and before we know it, all of our messy insides are out and about for everyone to see.  We are a mess.  Maybe we are a sobbing mess because of heartache.  Maybe others see our life as one big accident or bad event after another.  Maybe the ungodly actions of our family members are out for everyone to see.  Maybe our own sin has come to light and is out for everyone to see.  Whether it is family, life, sin, health, troubles, or trials, there is never a shortage of messy things.  Let’s face it.  Life is pretty messy.  And just when we think we have it “put together,” life takes another bite of that taco and things start spilling out again.  

But despite all of that mess, God loves us.  He is close to his children.  Even when the mess is our fault, he loves us and is with us.  Skeptical?  When we are in the middle of it, it is often hard to believe this.  However, it is true.  Let’s just take a look at someone from the Bible who had a lot of mess.  This particular person was “a man after my own heart” and the “my” in that verse is God.  Yes.  I am referring to David. 

David  was made king of Israel after Saul, Israel’s first king.  David was chosen by God through Samuel while Saul was still king.  In fact, this led to a lot of drama between Saul and David.  

After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’

Acts 13:22


David, as king, had a pretty messy life.  Up to this point, he had saved Israel from Goliath, he had served Saul in his palace and became the best friend of Saul’s son, then ran for his life because Saul was after him, he had the opportunity to kill Saul but refrained, and he had experienced the death of his best friend.  Those are just the highlights. So, his life is pretty messy, but it’s not his fault. As king, David makes a lot of mistakes and his life gets messy.  And it IS his fault. 

While king, David is guilty of adultery and making the woman pregnant.  To cover this up, he tries to frame her husband as the father of the child, by bringing him home from war.  However, the husband, an honorable man, would not sleep with his wife while his soldiers were still at war.  So David conspired to have him killed.  Now David is guilty of adultery, lying, conspiracy, and murder.  It doesn’t stop. Later, he is guilty of serious bad parenting when he does nothing to punish his son for raping his daughter.  To be clear, David’s son raped David’s daughter and nothing was done. This led to David’s other son committing murder in order to defend his raped sister. That son then led a rebellion to take the throne from David and was subsequently murdered. Again, these are just the highlights of David’s kingly life. 

Talk about a mess!  I am sure some of us can relate to some/all of this.  Sometimes, our lives just seem like one huge mess that never ends.  Or the mess gets fixed just to have another mess pop up. Our lives can be a lot like David’s.  

Yet David was still considered a man after God’s own heart.  God didn’t abandon David.  God stayed with David, even when David strayed away from God.  You see, every time David sinned, he repented.  Sometimes, a prophet would have to tell David of his sin, other times, David knew.  But he ALWAYS went before God and repented.  Many of the Psalms are David pouring out his heart to God in repentance. Jesus’ lineage includes David. It not only includes it, but prophecies regarding the Messiah refer to it.  

King David is known to be a great king and one who seeks out God.  God, himself, acknowledges the significance of this man.  It isn’t because David was perfect.  It isn’t because David was “special” in some way.  It was because David was always seeking to do God’s work.  When he messed up, he repented and got back on God’s path.  When his life was messy but wasn’t due to his sin, he relied on God and followed God’s commands.  David’s life was one huge, messy taco and God loves tacos.  He loves tacos despite their messiness.  He loves you despite your mess. 

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

Ephesians 2:4-5 ESV

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:37-39 ESV

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9 ESV

Weare all tacos.  It’s not about how much mess we have, but how much love God has.  Go before God and tell him about your mess.  He cares.

If you need to repent, seek out God and ask him for forgiveness. 

If your mess isn’t about what you have done, it is about what has happened to you, spill out your heart to God.  Let him know.  He cares and will comfort you. 

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