How do you clean up really big messes? When I was a child, I needed my mother to help. The Legos went in this box, the blocks in the clothes basket, the Lincoln Logs in their can and the action figures in their carrying case. When my mom was beside me, cleaning went quickly because she would direct my tasks; breaking the gargantuan job of cleaning my room into small achievable steps. Without her I was lost in a hopeless quagmire. It is similar with God. We are called to love others as Jesus loves us, to live lives that are worthy of the gospel, to go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. To most of us these expectations sound like Formula One racing. In contrast, many of us feel lucky to get our beat up pick-up-truck to start. As long as we keep trying to clean up the messes of our lives on our own we’re going to be bouncing around in backfiring trucks. Once we make a habit of soliciting the guidance of the Holy Spirit and acting upon that guidance, our lives are transformed into the full and abundant lives that God intends for us. The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to the opportunities that God puts before us. We can be absolutely certain that whether we are the pastor of a mega church or an invalid that can’t get out of his or her house, God gives us more than enough opportunities to be good and faithful servants. The challenge, of course, is to be faithful in recognizing those opportunities and responding to them.