I stood in my kitchen, dirty dishes piled up on every counter. Water was leaking from under the sink, from under the dishwasher, all over my hardwood floor.

Just another Saturday, I thought as I rolled my eyes and tried to take calming breaths.

We did the dishes in the bathtub, only to make dinner which of course, led to more dirty dishes piled up again.

After several months of being in a new job, in a new church, and in a new community, we’ve finally invited friends over for dinner (after saying it over and over each time we saw them). And now of course, the day before they’re coming over, the sink and dishwasher break.

Does this ever happen to you? You have good intentions to serve others, love on others, bring joy to others, but then life gets in your way? The sink breaks, the car breaks, there’s just not quite enough money?

I think we’ve all been there.

I know sometimes when life gets in my way, my first inclination is to give up, throw in the towel, and walk away. It’s not worth the fight, the mess, or the inconvenience.

What if we pushed through though? What if we believed in a God that could still work through these messy, humbling moments?

So what our sink and dishwasher are broken, and we’re hiding our dirty dishes in the bathtub — isn’t it more important to still follow through with what God has prompted us to do, to be authentic with people, to meet people right where we are and where they are?

We decided not to let life get in the way of what God is wanting to do. We’ll eat off paper plates, apologize for the mess (and smell), and still follow through with serving others.

Be encouraged today to not give up when life gets in your way. Don’t let those things stop you from what God is calling you to do! Our God is bigger than those messy moments, bigger than our problems, bigger than our broken sinks.