Renovation Faith

 

I could spend hours watching HGTV.  Yes, I am obsessed with watching people take things that are old and making them new again.  My husband and I will debate this every now and again.  His argument is why would the renovators spend all the time and money in gutting a house completely, only leaving its main structure, just to rebuild over it.  Would not it be quicker, and cheaper, just to tear the entire thing down and start from nothing.  I can definitely see his point of view, but still enjoy watching the entire process.

As I was watching another one of those shows this morning, the thought came to mind again.  The renovators were working on a small cabin.  The house had seen better days.  There was rot of walls, unevenness in the floorboards, and it was dark and dingy.  Everything was removed except the original foundation and the framing that held up the house. 

I could not help but think of my life and how it compared to this old cabin and the renovators working on it. I reflected on my past ‘fifty something’ years and realized that along the way, I had made decisions that created rot within my being.  I had experiences that left me dark and dingy.  Daily living provided me times with a sense of unevenness.  Not only have I felt, physically, like I needed a ‘new coat of paint,’ but even mentally and spiritually, my foundation had been rocked.  They were decisions that went against what I knew was right and good as defined by my heavenly father – sins that I commit every day.  They were experiences that created dark days and sleepless nights.  Not to mention the difficulties of every day that can lead my emotions to be a bit like a roller coaster.

Yet today, as I watched the house that was being renovated come back to its original foundation, I thought of our Jesus.  He died on the cross and became my Savior so that I could go back to my foundation and come back to life.  My foundation, rooted firmly in the foundation of God, leads Him to build my life to where He knows it is good and right.  It is when I take over the hammer and nails that the house is not built soundly.  It is when I turn to my Lord that I know my life is built on the solid rock of Him who created me.  I need to let Him take the hammer and nails and form me into the life He meant for me.

This is not always easy.  It should be!  We should be able to build our foundation of this earthly life knowing the heavenly eternal life that waits for us.  Yet, we are sinful beings.  We do not always go to the one place where the rebuilding can occur.  Let us all make a commitment to make that happen.  Let us dive into the Word of God to find where our foundation is and let God build us back up.  Let us get new windows to let the Son shine in.  Let us get new doors where God can enter freely.  Let us build new floors so we can stand firmly in His being.  Let God rebuild our lives so our foundation can be secure in Him!

Heavenly God, our foundation can be rocky.  With the events and experiences of our lives on earth, we can feel as if we are not worth your time and love.  We can feel as if we are an old home who should be torn down.  Help us to turn to you and know that you are the foundation we need to walk in the path you created for us.  May you make us strong and firm in your love.  May our makeover show you to others.  Amen!

Light Peaking Through

 

I know we all have them – those days where everything is going wrong, nothing is going right.  It seems as if the weight of the world is on our shoulders, and we have all we can do to take the next step or the next breath.  Life seems out of order, and we cannot get it back into order.

It was one of those days this past week.  No matter where I turned, the world was turning in the opposite direction.  That was all before 8AM!  Typically, not one for pity parties, I continued through the day, pushing forward determined not to let the day get the best of me.  By 5:30PM, all seemed lost.  The day continued to go from bad to worst and the cloudy sky said it all.

I was driving along, tears in my eyes.   I prayed – boy did I pray.  I asked God for all that I needed in my family, at work.  I just mumbled words that I knew only Jesus would understand.  Then, I looked up.  There, among the clouds, was the light.  The light began by just peaking through the clouds, then there was a brilliance to the sky.  As I drove along the road, the tears dried up as I said, “Dear Lord, you are there.  You will never let the darkness of my days overcome the light of you!”

Did the flip switch on all that was weighing me down?  No, it did not.  But what did flip was me.  I flipped from the pity party to the grateful party.  I began to see all that God had truly blessed me with, not just the things that did not seem to be answered by my prayers.  With that change in me, I was able to recognize the change in other areas of my life.  Change may not have been ‘yes’ to those prayers I gave to God.  Yet, a change of the situation was there – and that is only God’s hand who could do that!

My friends, our days get dark.  Lately, we have much darkness we can focus on.  Not just ‘cloudy skies,’ but ‘darkness of night.’  As we walk through these challenging times, remember that the darkness we face we do not face alone.  Our darkness is met with light – God’s light.  His light has the ability to shine on all our darkness and bring us from the pit of despair to the mountain top of joy.  How does that happen?  By focusing on God and not on us.  Let our faces turn to God and away from the mirrors we face.  In doing so, we get to see His Love and His glory – and that will outshine anything!

Heavenly Father, thank you for pulling us out of darkness with your light.  May we always look to you when our days are cloudy and ask for your help as we walk our next step and breathe our next breath.  Pull us close to you God with your loving arms and extend your grace and mercy upon us.  Amen!