Imagine being completely restored by Him…
I will rebuild you… You will be happy again.” Jeremiah 31:4
Recently, I came across a broadcast on television that focused on a husband and wife team that worked together ‘flipping’ houses. I was impressed by the way this couple worked by using the gifts each had to renovate properties, some rather drastically. Have you heard of this? The goal is to buy a fixer-upper at a low price, do whatever renovations are needed, redecorate, then sell the property quickly, with the hope of a profit. And sometimes, these structures need significant work to get a new lease on life, even to the point of stripping the building down to a shell state before new materials can be applied. By the time the show was over… it hit me… doesn’t God do that same thing with us? I mean, after all, have you seen the state of the world lately? We are in serious need of renovation and NOW!
God has been in the renovation business for generations… in fact, I guess you could say that it’s His family business and people are His fixer-uppers. He has been known to breathe freshness into the most decrepit soul, clearing out the dust that clog our spiritual filters, tearing down faulty support systems we’ve erected as coping mechanisms to keep us functioning temporarily. He cleanses and purifies the mold and mildew of unhealthy patterns, and He removes debris that clutters and compromises our foundation.
The Israelites understood surviving on unsteady support beams and breathing toxic fumes from their surroundings. Living in captivity left them longing for home sweet home. Jeremiah 31 describes the Lord’s commitment to rebuild them. In the Lord’s own words, He acknowledged their desolation. But, instead of doing a complete demolition on them, He emptied them to a shell in order to make something whole and new. His compassion, forgiveness, and faithfulness, resound in His words. All along, He kept His dream for them alive, and one day He would welcome them back to Himself, restored and beautified through his renovating work.
Just as run-down houses look shabby and depressed, over time we, as His children, show signs of the world’s wear and tear. We all need a dose of God’s renovating power every now and then. Expertly skilled with the tools of the trade, He chisels and forms and repairs our damaged places until we stand tall and strong, with hearts ready to make a healthy home for Him.
Father God, sometimes Your construction hurts, but You do beautiful restoration work. I am tired of the worn-out places inside myself. Father, I pray that while You do Your work, even when the process may not make sense or my cries to You appear to go unanswered, I will trust in You! Thank you for loving me too much to let my soul deteriorate. Amen!
Greg (gstefanelli)
Sixty-six books in a year 