Total Destruction

11/12/2006

From the outside, it’s hard to tell what’s going on inside a home under reconstruction. There might be evidence out front, as there was at our kids’ house this past month--with supplies and dust and the sound of sawing coming out of the garage--but other than that, unless we enter in, we can’t know the full story. We can’t know which rooms are being worked on, we can’t know why, and we can’t know what the before and after looks like…unless we enter in.

It’s the same with our hearts…it’s hard to see past a smile sometimes, to get past the words being said, and into the heart of a person if we’re not willing to open up the door and invite others in. If we did, what would be found? Would it be peace and joy, order and contentment? Or would it be brokenness and sorrow, confusion and calamity?

This past month has been a time of reconstruction for our kids. The “heart” of their home was damaged by a leak, and mold had settled in under the flooring and up into the walls. When we first got the call from our son, Chris, he was pretty devastated. The beginning estimate just to tear out the damaged floorboards and walls and get rid of the mold was beyond what they could afford--let alone putting it all back with a new kitchen, cabinets included--the walls needed to be taken down to the studs. What were they to do? It seemed the heart of their home was totally destroyed, unlivable, and they saw no light at the end of this dark tunnel…

God, on the other hand, had different plans. He has taken this seemingly insurmountable problem in a young couple’s eyes, and turned it into blessings!
Jeremiah 29:11 in the New Living Translation Bible says,
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

In the Message Bible, Jeremiah 20, verses 10 and 11 are written this way
This is God's Word on the subject: “As soon as Babylon's seventy years are up and not a day before, I'll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”

Tonight, Chris and Holly and their children will move back into their home. The heart of their home has not been totally restored, but there has been great progress made. The living room has new carpeting, the floor in the front hallway and into the dining room has been put back into place using pieces of flooring that were salvageable from the living room—just the right amount! The kitchen has a new floor, which is beautiful, and new cabinets are in place. The countertop is soon to be the finishing touch to what a month ago seemed to be total destruction.

What does this say about the God we serve?
What does this say about our lives when it seems all hope has been lost?
What does this say about our own hearts, when it seems the destruction has been so great there is no way it will ever be repaired?

It may seem that there is no comparison here between a house…wood, nails, flooring, cabinets, etc…and the tender condition of our heart, but there is a great comparison! God is a good God! He loves us! He cares about all the minute details of our lives! He is overseeing everything from water damage in our floors and walls, to the brokenness and hurt in our damaged hearts. When it seems we simply can’t take another step, God is there…willing to help us in our distress. He wants to be our Friend…it was in His plan all along to help us!

Though I am surrounded by troubles, you will preserve me against the
anger of my enemies. You will clench your fist against my angry enemies!
Your power will save me.
The Lord will work out his plans for my life—for your faithful love, O Lord,
endures forever. Don’t abandon me, for you made me.
Psalm 138:7-8 (NLT)

As our little grandson lay on the new kitchen flooring that had gone in, I looked down at him…he was smiling, he was happy, he had no idea what was really going on around him…I could not help but to think of the news I had heard earlier in the week…I asked Chris about it as I looked down at Jackson…he said that a ballplayer had a baby boy, six months old, die of SIDS earlier in the week…that’s a broken heart…that’s total destruction…that’s seemingly irreparable damage in a person’s life…it does put a damaged floors and walls into perspective…

But in the end, no matter what, God is in control…and He can repair all things in His time and in His way…all things are possible when our Hope is in our Mighty God!

Along the way, if we are watching and listening and willing to hear what the Spirit is saying, we will see God is hard at work…harder at work than those who are seemingly doing the visible work that needs to be done. With a broken heart, the visible work might be a meal delivered, a card sent, a visit made, a hug given, a prayer prayed…with a broken home it might be a friend who is an electrician, a friend’s dad who finishes sheetrock, a neighbor who provides a bed and help in rebuilding, a mom and dad who pitch in where needed, other family and friends who do their part to bring in what’s required to make a house a home again, and prayers prayed…and behind it all, in all things, there is God overseeing what needs to be done, at just the right time, in just the right way.

In each step of this rebuilding project, just when it seemed the kids were at a standstill, that an “expert” of sorts was needed, or an extra pair of hands were required, or even financial help was sought out, it was there. To plan ahead, it would have seemed impossible…it would have seemed they should just throw up their hands and walk away because there was no way to do what needed to be done…but God had His plans and each step of the way He provided just what was needed, just when it was needed, and there were miracles happening before our very eyes…

O Lord my God, you have done many miracles for us.
Your plans for us are too numerous to list.
If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds,
I would never come to the end of them.
Psalm 40:5 (NLT)

This is not to say it was all smooth sailing. This is not to say it wasn’t frustrating and inconvenient and a lot of hard work…this is real life here, not a fairy tale. During the last month, while getting the work done in the house, it seemed the enemy would not give up on Chris and Holly…their computer crashed, the washing machine quit working, the iPod got run over in the driveway and even the hair clippers broke…to name just a few of the things that can happen on any given day…life goes on even in the midst of total destruction, just as life goes on when our hearts are broken and our lives are filled with confusion…the world doesn’t stop spinning, but thank God, He never leaves us!!

As for me, I am poor and needy, but the
Lord is thinking about me right now.
You are my helper and my savior.
Do not delay, O my God!
Psalm 40:17 (NLT)

The heart of a home can be repaired with a lot of hard work and the help of others…the heart of a human being can be repaired with the help of our Lord if we will allow Him in to do what needs to be done. Will we open up our lives to the power He yields? Will we plug into Him and let Him flow through the destruction and make it something beautiful?

I’ve heard it said that the gifts we are all given are like a string of Christmas lights. Each color is different but we are all connected to the same power source, and that Source is God. I love that illustration. It’s through God’s power that light will shine, that beauty will be seen, and that joy will be made evident. In putting a house back together, many gifts are needed to complete the project. Some can’t lay flooring, but they can hang sheetrock. Some can’t assemble cabinets, but they can paint. Some can’t install appliances but they can haul heavy supplies…all the gifts God gives us are added together to make for a perfect “Christmas!” That is the Body of Christ in action! That’s God’s power!

If we are open to what God can do in and through us, we will be delighted at the results! I haven’t laid much flooring in my life, but I have to say, Holly and I were having a blast learning to use the power saws as we cut the Pergo to install the wood flooring. We were laughing and enjoying this time spent together, while the guys put the cabinets in. The guys had never done that before either! There can be joy in the process when hearts are joined together in love…there can be joy in the restoration of a heart when we understand God has a plan, a perfect plan, and He is working hard at putting our lives back together…not to ever be the same, but to be better in ways that we might not see clearly for years to come, or maybe even until we see this world from Heaven’s vantage point.

What Chris and Holly are ending up with is a great new kitchen, one so much better than they had before. Their kitchen was old, it was used, it was in need of repairs…it probably would have remained that way for years to come because there wasn’t the money for a new kitchen…and they wouldn’t really have known where to even start. But God had other plans…once the heart of a home is destroyed and the home is unlivable, as it was in their case, there is no choice but to move forward and discover that when God says, “I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”---that it’s true! Sometimes God moves in to make changes, even if we think we aren’t ready…

There are times in our lives when we will just live with what is because we don’t really even know where to start to make the needed changes…it seems it’s all too much, too complicated, too hard, too stressful and it’s really not painful enough yet to want to make a change. We’ll just put up with that leak, that crack in the wall, that smelly situation…

But, God doesn’t want us to get stuck in the muck. God sees so far ahead, beyond what we can yet even envision. I’ve heard it said, “God loves us just the way we are, and He loves us too much to leave us that way.” He has great plans for us! He sees what we can become with some reconstruction… He knows that when a heart is broken beyond repair and we are given the choice to either walk away, or tear away the old and let Him replace it with new, we are at a place where we may find God to be all we are needing…that’s where He will begin to renovate our lives. That’s when His redemptive work can really start…

And in the midst of all of it, God can give us glimpses of what that process will look like and what the end result can be…it’s described there in His Word. It’s there, in the lives of so many that have gone ahead of us, if we will only open up His book and take a look.

Did you know that there is technology now to be able to see your kitchen in virtual reality before it is ever installed? Holly and I were laughing while we worked, because she was so surprised at how the kitchen was starting to take shape…and do you know why? Because it was starting to look just like what she had seen on her computer screen when she ordered it! I said, “Well, Holly, what did you think it was going to look like?” She said, “The old kitchen, I guess.”

Isn’t that so like all of us? We think that when all is said and done, we will be the same people; we’ll go back to the same life, nothing much will have changed once the repairs have been made--once God has healed our hearts. But, it’s not true. We never go back to exactly what was…we’re changed people, from the inside out. God doesn’t bring total destruction into our lives, into our hearts, to leave us the same. He does it so that when His work is finished, we will be a new creation, having a heart that more closely resembles His—a much better version of a human being. We’ll be newly remodeled, so that what comes out of us will be so much sweeter.

Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me—now let me rejoice.
Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt.
Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a right spirit within me.
Psalm 51:8-10 (NLT)

Life takes a toll on all of us. We start out so fresh, with that baby soft skin that I so love to kiss with my grandchildren. There are no wrinkles, except for cute ones. Their heart is still so new; there is no great pain except for a wet diaper and an empty stomach from time to time. But as we get older, just as with a home, we start to wear out. The pipes leak, the walls sag, the flooring buckles, the paint fades…

With our hearts, the years add up, the hurts cause cracks in our foundation, and the dis-ease settles in until what’s hidden deep inside starts to seep in and around and under all the visible aspects of our lives. It can make us mean and angry and short-tempered. It can cause us to be bitter and unlovable and maybe even someone to be avoided… Our body is the temple of the living Christ who dwells within us, and our heart could be called the Holy Place inside that temple. Sometimes that Holy Place could use a renovation because life is hard on it.

Sometimes when we’re given a choice, we actually listen as God calls us to open up His Word, to be with His people, to reach out and help others, to love Him with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength, but usually it takes something more…sometimes it takes total destruction before we find the time for Him…before we realize that we have nowhere else to turn but to Him if we are ever to see the beauty of the plans He has for our lives. Each step of the way can be difficult, but in the end, it will be worth it.

It was interesting as the kitchen cabinets were installed this last weekend in the kids’ house--there were many times along the way when it seemed they had come to a place where all was lost, when what they had wouldn’t work, when the pieces just didn’t fit or were broken, or whatever…there were frustration points that seemed to be a dead end. But little by little, with perseverance and the right tools, it started to come together. Yes, adjustments needed to be made, sometimes the end result wasn’t exactly what they thought it would be, but the goal was to put the heart of their home back together, to do what needed to be done so that it was accomplished.

It reminds me of a song I was just listening to yesterday, it goes like this:

Oh what I would do to have the kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
…with just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors…shaking in their armor
Wishing they’d have had the strength to stand…
But the giant’s calling out my name and he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times I’ve tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me…time and time again…boy you’ll never win
You’ll never win

But the Voice of Truth tells me a different story
The Voice of Truth says do not be afraid
And the Voice of Truth says this is for my Glory
Out of all the voices calling out to me…
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth
(Casting Crowds CD-The Voice of Truth)

God’s Voice of Truth can keep us going in the midst of total destruction in our lives. His voice is what we are to listen to when all seems lost, when the pain is too great, when the destruction seems beyond repair and we’re just ready to call it quits…God’s voice says,

“Trust me in your times of trouble,
and I will rescue you,
and you will give me glory.”
Psalm 50:15 (NLT)

Will we?
Will we trust Him?
Will we watch as He rebuilds our lives?

God is able…no amount of devastation is beyond His control. I’ve seen it in my own heart, I’ve seen it in my kids’ home, I’ve seen it in the lives of others I have known…God is our Hope, our Future, and all we will ever need to see us through this journey called life.

To God be the glory!

Diane