Caution: Work in Progress

For those of you who don't know, we are remodelling our home right now. At this point my best guess for a completion date on the remodel is around my youngest child's 18th birthday in 2027. At least, it seems that way. We are currently adding cabinets and just ordered countertops for the kitchen (pretty exciting stuff). I pretty much do all the work myself and for the most part I really enjoy it. There have been a few times when I got rather frustrated and irritated because of the unfinished condition of our home (plywood floors still, bare sheetrock walls, etc.). Three years ago around Christmas time I was having a moment and Deana wrote a little poem or saying, framed it and gave it to me for Christmas. After this past weekend of working on the kitchen I thought I would share it with everyone and a few other thoughts.

Our Home is a Work in Progress

As we work in our home
To make the changes we desire,
We are reminded that we, too,
Are a work in progress.

God is working in us, making
The changes He desires
For our good and His glory.

"Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." Psalm 127:1

As I think about this I realize that there are some interesting parallel's between remodelling a home and God working in us.

First of all, a remodel always starts with demolition. If you have ever started a remodel project you know that you don't just build anything until you have torn out sheetrock, old electrical, old plumbing, old walls, something. Usually you make a great, big mess and it can kind of be fun because you don't have to be real careful. You just grab a hammer, prybar or crowbar, maybe a Sawzall and go to work. The same is true with us in God's hands. We will never be changed into Christ's image until the old is torn out. We don't learn how to trust God until we fall on our faces a few times and God removes our pride by knocking us down a few notches.

Second, a remodel job takes time. I am naturally an impatient person. I like microwaves and they are often too slow. I like to drive fast and the speed limits (all of them) are definitely too slow. I like fast food (don't tell anyone), but get impatient at the drive-thru line. So remodelling anything in my home is always a test of my patience. The same is true in the spiritual world. We want 30 second answers to the deepest questions of life or we won't listen. We want to be like Christ by attending a week-end seminar. We want perfect marriages by reading a book (but not a long one) and then are surprised when it doesn't happen. We have to realize that the Christian life is a journey that takes time. We make progress one step at a time.

Third, a remodel job takes energy and determination. If you have ever started a construction job you know that there is a reason they tell you to add 10 or 20 or 50 percent to your initial cost estimate because it will always end up being harder, more difficult or just more expensive than you ever thought. I remember the first time I "learned" to solder a copper pipe. I was moving a staircase to the basement in our current home and as I was cutting through a 2x4 over my head with a Sawzall I heard and felt water spraying. I didn't realize that the main water line into the house was directly behind the board I was cutting. :) I turned off the water and looked at the damage. It was just a small 1/2 inch cut in a copper pipe. I had never soldered copper, but I figured "How hard could this be?" After all, I had seen some plumbers before who did this for a living and if they could figure it out I was sure a guy with a Master's degree could too.

So I went online and read up on soldering copper, then headed down to the local Home Depot. While there I found a "patch kit" for copper pipe. It was a gift from God - I wouldn't have to solder after all. So I bought it and headed home. I followed all the directions to a "T" wrapping the pipe with about 30 ft of this fiberglass patch so that it looked like a cast on a 8 yr old boy after he fell off the swing and broke his arm. I was absolutely confident that thing couldn't leak. So I turned on the water and it started dripping. Unbelievable!!! So I went back. This time I bought the torch, solder, flux, emery cloth, heat shield, strike, flux brush, cleaning brush, a couple of couplings and copper pipe. To make a long story short I heated up that pipe and soldered it about a half-dozen times, but never could get it to stop leaking. So I broke down and called the plumber. I was gone when he came by. My wife said that he walked downstairs for about 10 minutes came back upstairs and told her it was all done. It hasn't leaked since. Oh, and then they promptly charged us for $300.

In our spiritual lives it isn't much different. We desire to serve God, then get frustrated and give up when it isn't easy. Yet God constantly describes the Christian life as a farmer working hard, a soldier focused on his task and ready to face difficulty, or an athlete who must diligently exercise to run a race. To become more like Christ (our ultimate goal) will take more energy, determination, and commitment then you ever thought possible. That is why Jesus says that we should count the cost before jumping into discipleship. Being a committed follower of Jesus Christ is not supposed to be an easy task, but it is a rewarding one.

I look at the room I finished in our basement (after the water was mopped up) that is now our master bedroom and enjoy it every day. No one else will ever know the blood and sweat (no tears) that went into that room, but I do. Sometimes when I am lying on my bed before the lights are off I look around and I remember the different stages - insulating the room, running wiring, picking out lights, finishing the sheetrock, painting the room, etc. and I just smile. Knowing that, at least for that room, it is finished. One day we will stand before Christ and both He and I will look back over my life as a believer. We will remember all the different highs and lows. The times when I fell on my face, relied on my own strength, refused to obey, rejected wise counsel, etc. but we will also see the times when I trusted Him even though it didn't make any sense, when I shared the Gospel even though it wasn't comfortable, when I taught the truth even though I knew people wouldn't agree with me. On that day, my greatest desire is to hear those words, "Well done, good and faithful servant." We are the greatest remodelling project of all time - may we all hear those words some day.