One of my favorite shows to watch when I need to not think too much is “Love It or List It” on HGTV. If you haven’t seen it, the show follows a family who have issues with their current home, such as not having enough bedrooms or they have to go to a dark and dingy basement to get to their laundry room. There are two hosts, one comes to the old house and remodels it, trying to give the owners everything on their wish list that would get them to love their home again. The other host takes them out in the city and tries to find a perfect new home for them to buy. When the remodel is done, the owners have to decide whether to love their home and keep it, or list it and buy the new home.
It seems that on every episode, the remodeling host finds unexpected issues – critical items that the owners were completely unaware of, but that she must repair for the home to be safe.
C. S. Lewis says that we are a house:
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.” – Mere Christianity
Philippians 1:6 says, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” – NASB
We are a work in progress – a house under construction. From the moment of our salvation, God is working within us to mold us and evolve us into being more Christ-like. You don’t believe me? Try this: Look at yourself now – your spirituality, not your physical body. Look at what you believe now: your trust in God, your faith in His ability to see you through any situation, your love of God and others. Now, compare it to where you were spiritually when you felt the very first stirring that God was calling you to be His child. If it was years ago or if it was last week, I am confident of this very thing: The God who placed that very stirring in your heart, that desire to know Him more, began the good work within you on that day. And He has continued to grow you and mold you ever since. And He will continue to do that good work until the day of Christ Jesus.
Most likely, when you accepted Christ, you knew there would be change involved. Perhaps you expected to go to church more and make different choices and priorities in your life. Those areas of your life in which you expected to change, probably did.
Yet, God didn’t call you to be His child so that he could do a little home improvement project. He called you to create a fabulous and dazzling new you. He had a much grander plan for your life than you ever expected or in which you dared to hope. He is knocking down walls; creating an open floor plan; adding on an outdoor kitchen; taking out closets and replacing them with a beautiful new master bath.
These types of major remodeling projects don’t come without pain and they don’t come without a cost. You could choose to stop the remodel at any time. You can love it (the spiritual remodel) or list it (give up on the new house God is building and try to just move on to a new house – without the pain of remodeling). Keep in mind that when you “list it”, you can try moving to a new house, but it’s going to have its own set of unidentified issues. The beauty of God’s love for us is that He leaves the choice up to us. If he demanded our love and our devotion, it wouldn’t be love.
Sister, I encourage you to allow God to continue to do the good work in you. Allow Him to rebuild relationships based on the same unconditional love He gives to you. Let Him tear down barriers that are keeping you from realizing the next stage of perfection in your spiritual life. He can throw out all the old, faulty wiring of your thinking process to create a new system that is based on His promises to you.
This remodel project is not a quick makeover. It takes a lifetime of commitment. The scripture from Philippians does not say that we will be perfect here on earth. Perfection will only be achieved at the end of this life when we are reunited with Christ.
Our job is to stay involved in the project: seek His will in prayer; position yourself in the Word and read the blueprint the Master Architect has designed for you; open your heart to the nudge of the Holy Spirit. And watch what surprising remodeling ideas God has in store for your extreme home makeover!
Shared by Cindy Cantrell
Women@CF Blog 