I am so grateful that jesus is a carpenter

“26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”  

                                                                                Matthew 7:26-27

This is me before my life changed and God called me into a relationship with him. Exposed, falling apart, unfit, unuseful, and dangerous to be around.

I am grateful because of how God sees things.

“7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

                                                                                                1 Samuel 16:7

God looks at the heart of the house, the weeping broken, fearful heart. If God only looked at what I looked like…couldn’t He even be discouraged? Look how much work he will have to put into fixing me, how much money, how much time? Is this a project to even begin? Or could he have just passed me by declaring that I am not worth the effort?

Glory be to God that he is not like that. Oh yes, he looked and saw the damage because God is wise.

“28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’”

                                                                                                Luke 14:28-30

God determined that I was worth the time, effort, and expense. He determined that He would start my renovation project anyway. He counted the cost and thought I was valuable enough to do the work. He saw value in me where I saw none. I am a costly project and yet God still believed that what I could become was worth so much more than the investment that He had to make.

And I can also hold on to the promise that he made me.

“4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

                                                                                                Philippians 1:4-6

The work takes time. He has to gut the old ideas and behaviors, the trauma and the drama, the anger and the issues. It takes time to retrain and time to reframe.

But the work continues.

He is building, for me, while teaching me that forgiveness should be placed at my entryway. He is redefining the molding throughout my kitchen so that I don’t believe the lie that love is the food that is given but instead, it is the fellowship that is shared over the plates. He wants me to know that grace is to be found in every mirror of the house, and hope should spring from every phone call I make. My bedding should be made to comfort the distressed and the broken-hearted. My bathroom cabinet should contain a Balm for healing and the bandages of safety. And my house should be a house of prayer.

But I am that house. I am the temple of his Holy Spirit. I should be like a stream in a desert for a weary passerby. I should be the light noticed on the hilltop beckoning others to come out of the darkness. And, I should be willing to share my portion of the bread of life – the word of God to all who enter.

And once he completes my renovation, he will put his blood over my doorposts and across its top. So that, he can protect me from the evil one’s destructive schemes. God will make, all things, work together for my good and allow me to be a refuge to the wandering stranger.

And God will call his project – “Justified.”

HE will call this project – “Daughter.”

HE will call this project – “Me.”                    

And when HE is done, he will declare that I have been built on the rock and now I am a safe place for others.

“24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”

                                                                                                Matthew 7:24-25

And as I stand remade, renewed, and reassured. God will tell me…

“8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a] free from the law of sin and death.” 

                                                                                                Romans 8:1-2

And I will love him all the more. 

I am so grateful that Jesus is a Carpenter.