Renovations

Renovations
RenovationsAbout seven years ago we renovated our kitchen. That project rolled into the renovation of the dining room which rolled into the renovation of our living room. We decided we would never go through that again!

Recently, we thought it would be a good idea to renovate the bathroom. Renovating your house is sort of like giving birth. While you are going through it you swear you will never do it again!

But in time the memory of the pain fades away. Until we ripped out everything in the bathroom we had forgotten the pain of renovating. Every room is being affected by the contents of one room. My dining room has a new vanity sitting in it along with various strips of molding, wallboard and fixtures. My office is consumed with containers holding the contents of what was our bathroom closet. The door to that closet is in my bedroom. My kitchen is my new half bath where teeth are brushed and faces washed. Every room suffers from a thin coat of dust. It makes me wonder why we thought this was a good idea!

As I work on my Bible Study I am looking at what God thinks about pride. I look at my life through His Word and see that He desires to renovate my heart- again. He comes with the Words that will begin to strip away my poor thinking, my bad attitudes, my stubborn ways and yes, my pride. He sees in me a "room" that has broken down, a place where the beauty He built has started to fade. Note that it didn't wear out from overuse but it faded from lack of use.

I don't relish the fact that once again I am in need of a renovation but I find comfort in the fact that my Father loves me enough to continue to work on me. Pride is that thin layer of dust that finds its way into all other rooms. My pride is everywhere and in everything and it has to go.

Just as I will benefit when my bathroom is finished there are benefits to getting rid of my pride.Proverbs 3:34 says "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Benefit #1- Grace! Isaiah 57:15 says "I live in a high and holy place but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit." Benefit #2- God lives with us! Isaiah 66:2 says "This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word." Benefit # 3- God esteems or respects us! * I look forward to my bathroom being finished but I know that I will not be finished here. Perfection comes in the next life but in the meantime God must do His work. Even though it is painful and disruptive for God to renovate us; will you and I choose to allow Him to be hard at work? What "room" does God need to renovate in you?Kathy*Living Free, page 53 by Beth Moore