Your Life is a Freaking Mess<\/a>. I would like to say that I am prophetic in my ability to foresee this moment in history, but that would be a lie. Face it people, this is not the first time that our life has been a freaking mess. I penned that epic when the world was in the last stages of a financial meltdown. It is a guidebook for people who have come to the end of their rope and discovered they haven\u2019t left any slack to hang themselves. I offer some of my life antidotes as examples of how to navigate the shoals of despair. The big take away from the book is this: Breathe.<\/p>\nFast forward eight years and here we sit again, hyper-ventilating. The only thing predictable in a freaking mess is that air seems to become a valuable commodity. (Don\u2019t allow toilet paper to dominate your thoughts. Shit happens even in a freaking mess. Breathing, however, is the thing to watch.)<\/p>\n
Isolation is creating within many the mental exercise of panic. Fear is the medium of exchange in everything you watch and listen to. Face masks project terror as people are being robbed of their sanity through hyper-sanitization. Conspiracies abound and multiply as days stretch into weeks with no hope of being able to venture into the public domain. We have binged anything worth binging and cleaned everything more times than we want to admit. And yet, there is this still small voice haunting our every moment of isolation, whispering to us, \u201cMy grace is sufficient.\u201d<\/p>\n
WTF! If you\u2019re offended right now, then you need to screw your head on buttercup, you\u2019re in a pandemic and no body \u2013 even the government \u2013 knows what the hell to do. They are making this up as they go! Yet, \u201cMy grace is sufficient.\u201d<\/p>\n
Listen to me for a moment. Breathe.<\/p>\n
Do it again, breathe.<\/p>\n
If you start to panic, breathe; if your heart starts to race, breathe; if you begin to allow your mind to run through every scenario of your fateful demise, breathe. Close your eyes and keep breathing.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m going to assume that that you have opened your eyes now and are willing to continue reading.<\/p>\n
In the throes of a freaking mess, the most difficult thing to do is to find a footing which will sustain you throughout the tumult swirling about you. Bible verses don\u2019t mean squat at moments like this simply because the pain \u2013 real, spit in your face, twist your nose pain, poke you in the eye pain \u2013 is more real than some type on a flimsy piece of parchment. And yet, somehow you keep breathing a grace which is sufficient. WTF is going on?<\/p>\n
You need to understand something here. I am not like others who have given the message of grace from the perspective of being a sinner saved by grace. My grace message goes back much further than many want to profess. So, allow me, in our freaking mess, to show you what that still small voice is trying to get across to you.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe kingdom God is within you.\u201d<\/strong> Stop thinking that the kingdom is coming one day in the future from up there and out there, it is in you right now. Every king sits on a throne and proclaims His rule from that throne. God\u2019s throne is described as a throne of grace. This means that every edict which is uttered from this throne is recognized as being a grace event or grace mandate. In a kingdom which abounds with everything, grace is sufficient. This grace has been sufficient long before the foundations of the world. <\/p>\n\u201cI and the Father are one.\u201d<\/strong> You are not any different from Jesus. You and the Father are one. There actually isn\u2019t even a \u201cyou\u201d as much as there is Him being as you. (Image and likeness, people. You are not in His fullness.) Whatever the Father says, as you, is spoken from the same throne of grace as if He spoke it directly.<\/p>\n\u201cSon, you are ever with me and all I have is yours.\u201d<\/strong> God cannot give you anything. So, quit asking for it! I know this doesn\u2019t make sense, right? Consider this: For God to give you something, He would also have the ability to take it away. Love doesn\u2019t take. You already have it. As long as God is, you have everything through the power of the grace of His kingdom.<\/p>\nThere are those people who seriously believe that this entire mess is God\u2019s reaction to our Adamic nature, or because of some sexual deviation, or because prayer is no longer in school, or because\u2026yada, yada, yada. You can believe the mythic conjuring of these folks if you want to and the magical cantations they prescribe you follow three times a day until the next holy day. But all that work, genuflecting and purification will not dampen the whisper, \u201cMy grace is sufficient for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The truth of this situation which the vast majority of people will never even attempt to decipher is found in their personal mess and just how grace is sufficient in what they face. Now that you\u2019re faced with being at home, unable to go to work or any social functions, even limited in going to the grocery store, your mess is blooming all around you. Yet, \u201cMy grace is sufficient.\u201d Do you know what this means? Breathe. There is a voice calling you, but you\u2019ll only hear it between each breathe.<\/p>\n
The million of years that this planet has existed and the hundred of thousands of years that humanity has traveled across it, there have been viruses. This one is simple the next in a long chain of evolving viruses. It will be demoted next season by another virus which, those who survive this go around, will have to face just like all the others before. <\/p>\n
Regardless, then, now, or whatever follows, the response does not change. \u201cMy grace is sufficient.\u201d There is no lack simply because, \u201cMy grace is sufficient.\u201d There is nothing missing because, \u201cMy grace is sufficient.\u201d All worries and concerns melt away because, \u201cMy grace is sufficient.\u201d But what about\u2026\u201cMy grace is sufficient.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, what is the correct response to this pandemic?<\/p>\n
You: Breathe. <\/p>\n
God: \u201cMy grace is sufficient.\u201d <\/p>\n
You: Breathe.<\/p>\n
Repeat.<\/p>\n
Now I know there will be many of you who will dismiss this as trivial because you don\u2019t see how your freaking mess is going to be aided by the simple act of breathing. Look buttercup, you\u2019ve screwed this up yourself through all the actions (and many nonactions) you took. Quit playing god for a moment and let God do what He has always been doing. Until you realize that the very act of breathing is acknowledging your dependence on Him, you are not going to understand a darn thing I\u2019ve been trying to put before you. Breathe, just freaking breathe. And while you\u2019re doing it, listen. Pay attention to the silence, the realm of God. Sure, you\u2019ve got questions, concerns, fears \u2013 but shut up. Do you honestly believe that a God who is all powerful, ever present, and all knowing has no clue what a mess you\u2019re in? Why do think He wants you to experience, \u201cMy grace is sufficient,\u201d more than chalk it up to one more bible message you\u2019ll file away and forget about in ten days?<\/p>\n
So again, what is the correct response to this pandemic?<\/p>\n
You: Breathe. <\/p>\n
God: \u201cMy grace is sufficient.\u201d <\/p>\n
You: Breathe.<\/p>\n
Repeat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Let me get real with you. This whole world pandemic deal is a freaking mess. However, you\u2019re in luck. I wrote the book on a freaking mess back in 2012, aptly titled, Your Life is a Freaking Mess. I would … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amazonpipp_noncename":"","amazon-product-isactive":"","amazon-product-single-asin":"","amazon-product-content-location":"1","amazon-product-content-hook-override":"2","amazon-product-excerpt-hook-override":"3","amazon-product-singular-only":"","amazon-product-amazon-desc":"","amazon-product-show-gallery":"","amazon-product-show-features":"","amazon-product-newwindow":"3","amazon-product-show-list-price":"","amazon-product-show-used-price":"","amazon-product-show-saved-amt":"","amazon-product-timestamp":"","amazon-product-new-title":"","amazon-product-use-cartURL":"","amazon_featured_post_meta_key":"","_amazon_featured_alt":"","amazon-product-template":"default","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[4,6,5],"class_list":["post-2307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-16","tag-grace","tag-mike-hillebrecht","tag-teaching"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ITDy-Bd","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2557,"url":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2022\/11\/10\/why-it-doesnt-matter\/","url_meta":{"origin":2307,"position":0},"title":"Why it doesn\u2019t matter","author":"mike","date":"November 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s time to put on your your big boy spiritual pants. What is about to come at you will never be preached from the pulpit. The reason is simple: it requires you to acknowledge how life is not what you perceive it to be but rather how it actually is.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2022 Postings"","block_context":{"text":"2022 Postings","link":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2022\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"hand in hand","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":351,"url":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2015\/07\/07\/grace-with-attitude\/","url_meta":{"origin":2307,"position":1},"title":"Grace with Attitude","author":"mike","date":"July 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s been a year since I wrote about the adventures of our family at Camp Attitude. This year we took the plunge and took the entire first week of camp to attend. We spent the year planning the logistics on our side while allowing Holy Spirit to preparing our hearts\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2015 Postings"","block_context":{"text":"2015 Postings","link":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2015\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2126,"url":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2019\/03\/22\/im-right-youre-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":2307,"position":2},"title":"I\u2019m Right, You\u2019re Wrong.","author":"mike","date":"March 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Duality. The bane of human culture. Either\/or rules the day of an ego which must have its just fruits at the expense of the those who fall below the demarcation line of being relevant. Fights. Mental anguish. Projection of past traumas onto present realities. Life is a freaking mess. (I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2019 Postings"","block_context":{"text":"2019 Postings","link":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2019-postings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"hand in hand","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1139,"url":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/27\/would-a-could-a-should-a\/","url_meta":{"origin":2307,"position":3},"title":"Would-a, Could-a, Should-a","author":"mike","date":"November 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Regrets, I've had a few But then again, too few to mention I did what I had to do, I saw it through without exemption. Lyrics from, \u201cMy Way\u201d Arm-chair quarterbacking your life is quite common the older you get. You see your life at its present state and begin\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2017 Postings"","block_context":{"text":"2017 Postings","link":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2017\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3341,"url":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/05\/grace-in-the-grind-when-everyday-chaos-whispers-divinity\/","url_meta":{"origin":2307,"position":4},"title":"Grace in the Grind \u2013 When Everyday Chaos Whispers Divinity","author":"mike","date":"December 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Ever sat in traffic, cursing the idiot in front of you, only to realize later that the delay spared you from something worse? Or maybe you've blown up at a loved one over burnt toast, and in the quiet aftermath, a deeper understanding of patience emerges. These aren't the mountaintop\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2025 Postings"","block_context":{"text":"2025 Postings","link":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/category\/2025\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"hand in hand","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mikehillebrecht.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/inbaby-hand3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":358,"url":"https:\/\/mikehillebrecht.com\/index.php\/2015\/07\/07\/the-voice\/","url_meta":{"origin":2307,"position":5},"title":"The Voice","author":"mike","date":"July 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Imagine that you\u2019ve spent your entire life, every waking and breathing moment to do one thing to its ultimate perfection. 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<\/p>\n