THE RENOVATION
I love the show “Fixer Upper!” I enjoy watching Chip and Joanna Gaines take a sad and worn house and transform it into this amazingly, beautiful new house that is much more functional for their clients needs. They work diligently to bring new life into a structure that has been neglected and abused for far too long. As my husband and I begin work to renovate and update our home of 22 years in preparation of downsizing, I am fully aware of how much work goes into making a transformation and sometimes it is not easy or fun! Working through each room, I thought of how God works in people’s lives to bring about a transformation, a renovation if you will. Before this renovation can begin there is usually a period of time where, as Chip Gaines would say, “demo day” occurs. This is a time where God begins to break down walls and barriers in someones life that keep them from moving forward in a relationship with Christ. It is a time of stripping a person of all those negative and hurtful things that blind you to the goodness of God. Once this is done, then little by little the work begins. Laying the foundation for your faith in Jesus, making strong your faith in the one who saves, building your confidence in His power and on it goes. God weaves together each piece, each facet of your life that when He is finished, what now exists is an unbelievable transformation! It will be a transformation that will be productive and functional for a life in God’s kingdom. People will be able to see the change and think “wow what a difference!”
King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 1-4) comes right to mind when I think of an amazing life renovation. He was known as a builder of cities and the greatest of the Babylonian kings and very wealthy to boot. Though he had witnessed God’s power a couple of times and he acknowledged that the God of Daniel was great among gods, he himself did not place his faith in this God. As King Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom grew and he became even more wealthy, he began to boast in what “he” had accomplished (Daniel 4:29-30). Scripture says that these words of his were still on his lips when God declared it to be “Demo Day” on King Nebuchadnezzar. God went to work stripping away the pride, the self admiration and all that King Nebuchadnezzar had boasted in. His entire kingdom was taken away and he was left to live a very hard life (one like an animal) until enough time had passed that he began to see the goodness of the one true God. He went from a mindset of “I did this!” “I am worthy to be praised by my people!” to “I will praise the Most High; I will honor and glorify him who lives forever.” (Daniel 4:34). When the “renovation” of King Nebuchadnezzar was complete, God restored his kingdom to him and he became even greater than before. Nebuchadnezzar’s final words in the book of Daniel (chapter 4) were “I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.”
If God has you in the middle of a “demo day” of a life renovation, know that the finished product will be well worth it! I know it is probably uncomfortable and even downright hurtful right now, but oh the joy in what you will be if you allow your eyes and your heart to shift to and remain on the author and perfecter of your life; Jesus. Lift your head, lift your eyes and get excited for what is coming!
