“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you…For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17)
Knocking down walls is never pretty.
During our renovation, the kitchen was ripped out and the new cabinets imagined, measured and ordered. The landscape of chipped tiles lost its battle to the relentless jack-hammer and slouched in earthquake-size rubble across the dilapidated living room. Dated wallpaper was stripped, aged mirrors suctioned off, and popcorn ceilings scraped and re-plastered smooth.
Messy undertaking!
Before we could welcome anything fresh, the old and useless had to be dealt with, yanked out, carted away. In the near future, beauty would bloom in the very place the soil of old and ugly was bulldozed.
God tends his house no less carefully.
He tells us all through Scripture that he makes his home in us on earth. A passage like Ephesians 2:19-22 clarifies that truth: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”
God’s work in us is often messy, too. Seasons of restoration and renovation in our lives might feel just like a jack-hammer’s assault. In the difficulties, when the hardships and topsy-turvy scenarios seems disjointed and unglued, it is natural to focus on the disarray. We must remember that God will use all of it for his great good, to bring about our own remarkable interior design.
He promises that “After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10).
The greater the work being done, the larger the mess appears. Let’s keep that perspective in mind when the clutter at our feet is blocking our view. Just around the corner, a little further down the way, he will ensure that beauty appears.
Especially when the present is simply too hard to bear.
Elizabeth A Mitchell
Photo Credit:Gary Yost on Unsplash
A messy but relatable analogy of going through it all with the Master Carpenter of our souls. Thanks for your ministry, Elizabeth. God be with you all.
Thank you Diane. Always so good to hear from you.
Amen, thanks for encouraging devotion.
God bless you
Nissi so good to see you in Katmandu. Thankful to hear from you my friend
Life is full of sorrows pain and struggles, but in the midst of these pains we have hope in Jesus Christ, who came to this fallen world and died for us. This pain is for a while. He has promised us the eternity where there is no pain, no death.
Sabina. I so loved my time with you in Nepal. God bless you as you minster to the widows there.
that reminds me of the song – “He’s still working on me to make me what I ought to be”. We are not perfect yet and yes that’s the reason we need pruning several times which is not an easy experience! In our struggle God is indeed working in us to make us what we ought to be – holy and acceptable for God. Thank you for that beautiful reminder from different scripture portions.
Suman, you are so welcome. Grateful for my time with you in Nepal.
Thank you for giving this wounder full encouraging message.
Aasha you are so welcome my friend. So happy to hear from you