Spaghetti Life

She was so happy! A romantic dinner with her boyfriend…candlelight, great food, dim lights, serenaded by violins. It was a romantic overdose. The evening was going perfect when suddenly during their conversation the boyfriend said something insensitive. Instead of apologizing he coldly gave a typical male response, “Just get over it.” She lost it! Grabbing the plate of spaghetti in front of her she hurled it at him, he ducked and the spaghetti went over his head and splattered against the wall behind him. You could hear a fly whisper as the restaurant crowd became dead quiet. Everyone sat there dazed, not knowing what to do as they watched the spaghetti sauce ooze down the wall. There was finally movement when a man scooted out of his chair, picked up a bag next to him and slowly walked to the wall with the spaghetti splashed on it. To everyone’s amazement this man took a paintbrush and paint from his bag. He began to paint around the spaghetti that was now hardening on the wall. The crowd was spellbound watching this man paint, wondering what he was doing. After an hour he put down his paintbrush. The restaurant crowd was deeply touched as this man had painted a gorgeous orange and purple ocean sunset on the wall with the spaghetti blended in as the sun in the centerpiece. What started as a horrible, ugly mess was turned into a masterpiece by the artist.

There have been many times when my life felt like a plate of spaghetti splattered chaotically against the wall. As a boy several things brought not only pain but long-term consequences, things that happened to me that were not my fault or within my control, such as my parents divorce, my dad’s alcoholism and rage, and by far the worst was sexual abuse I experienced at the hands of two men outside my family (to read more on these things go to the “Wounded Heart” section). I suffered from post-traumatic stress, depression, suicidal thoughts and plans, thirteen years of recovery, tremendous losses, etc. Then, there are things that happened in my life that were my fault, bad choices and sinful mistakes and such, things that had negative consequences. I am at a point in life now where many parts of what happened to me as an innocent boy and the mistakes I made as an adult have become platforms for me to connect with and communicate to people who, to some level or another, have gone through similar things. I bet you have had your own “spaghetti episodes”, things that were not your fault as well as things that were, things that brought apparent negative results into your life. Think of the most painful thing you have ever encountered in your life. Think of the deepest disappointment. Think of the biggest mistake. Think of the worst decision. Think of the most humiliating moment. All of those things may have brought hurt, doubt, confusion, depression, misunderstanding, hate, fear and disappointment into your life. Maybe you felt things were and are so messed up in your life that God cannot straighten it out, whether it is one area of life or life in general. It is in these circumstantial moments where important decisions are made that swing life into proper or improper directions. We can either sit and watch the spaghetti run down the wall or we can ask “The Artist” to come and make something beautiful out of something ugly. In other words, if we will let Him, Jesus Christ will blend in and turn the most painful things in our life and the biggest mistakes in our life into something good! I am now able to speak and minister to people about the depression, abuse, etc, that I went through, and every time I speak on such things someone talks to me afterwards and tells me they experienced the same thing and that they were touched, inspired and encouraged by me having the courage to talk about it. God can be the great artist with the skills and power to turn every bad situation around for good! Whether the bad situation is our fault or not, if we know Jesus Christ and are fully committed to knowing and obeying Him God will weave every bit of our life into His ultimate good. Whatever has happened in our lives we can know Jesus cares and that He is able to turn anything and everything around into something beneficial and meaningful to us. Plus, it will bring glory to Him and impact others through our life and testimony. “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them” (Romans 8:28). Let’s give our lives…our plates of spaghetti on the wall…to Jesus Christ, the Great Artist!

Because He loves us‚

Scott Nute