The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:14–15).

In “The Cat in the Hat”, said Cat causes a big mess—a toy ship sunk in a cake, the new rake is bent, pictures knocked off the wall, Mother’s new gown caught on a kite string, and the fish in a pot instead of his fishbowl. This mess is so big, so deep, and so tall that the children cannot pick it up, “there is no way at all.”

We don’t need to read the newspapers, watch the news, or check our social media to see that our world is a big mess. Our lives — and the lives of our family, friends, and neighbors — put the mess on display in our broken relationships, our feelings of inadequacy, our struggles with addiction, our need for validation from others, and the physical pain we experience. And try though we might, we can not pick it up. We cannot fix it all.

But the fish in the story clues us into the crux of the problem; he says of the Cat in the Hat, “He should not be here. He should not be about.” Like in the story, there is something behind our mess, a cause to it all — not a cat in a hat but another intruder, another that should not be here: sin. Sin came crashing into our relationship with God and made a big mess that we cannot pick up.

But right when this intruder appears, God promises to do what we cannot. He promises one who will come and deal with the intruder. Jesus Christ is this Promised One. On the cross, he dealt with the intruder.

We still live in the mess caused by the intruder. He has lost, but the mess is not yet all cleaned up. But amid the mess, in the pain, sickness, and sorrow that comes with our sin, we have this assurance: we don’t have to clean up the mess. We don’t have to fix everything. We don’t have to have all the answers. We only need to look to the Promised One, who has already been victorious over the intruder.

Prayer:
Father, forgive me for trying to fix the mess in my life through my efforts. Forgive me for turning to you only when I am forced to admit that my efforts are too feeble. Turn me from myself to the One you promised would take care of it. Fix my eyes on Jesus always.