We moved into our house in Texas right after I retired. The house was 23 years old and had been rented out for the last seven. It would need a lot of work to make it our home. A contractor was highly recommended by our family, so we quickly agreed to let him do the work on our place. We were living in the house, but our stuff wouldn’t arrive for a month. That made it much easier for the contractor to do his work, and he was eager to get started.
The contractor called and said he wanted to begin a day earlier than he had planned. Susan and I scrambled to get the house ready for the workmen to begin. We confined ourselves to a small part of the house and figured they could work on the other parts. It didn’t quite work out like that. Since all the floor covering was being replaced, we felt like we were on the run to get out of their way. The workers were very polite but couldn’t understand why Susan didn’t want them messing with her stuff.
Demolition was the first task, so most of the house looked like a war zone. They ripped up carpet and chipped tile out as fast as they could. The master bath soon became a pile of rubble. By the end of the first day our neat and orderly house was a mess, and we were moved to another area. Painters came and tried to begin painting in our new refuge and Susan said no. She needed her space, even if it delayed their progress. The contractor saw the fire in her eyes and adjusted his plan.
Though we are going through hardships right now, we look forward to living in a home of our dreams. The rubble and mess will be replaced by quality material, installed by skilled craftsmen. It will be a comfortable place for us to spend the rest of our lives.
This process of change is what we must go through as Christians. We have to tear out the old and make room for the new. We must, “be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom 12:2 KJV). This is an ongoing process as our mind becomes worn and polluted by the world. We may have to put up with “the mess” as the Holy Spirit tears out the old and replaces it with the new, but GOD said, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:7 NKJV). Supernatural help now and eternal life later, what a great deal!
Wayne Lance (2016)