Soul Renovations

10. January 2008 by BruceSmith.

Today’s blog comes not from me, but from one of you!  I think all of you will find the message challenging and growth producing.  The story comes from a man who is volunteering his time, still, and rebuilding homes for those affected by Hurricane Katrina.  Its a story of loss, renovation, opportunity, and God’s desires for us.  We can all relate to this one, I think.

Thanks for your ongoing support, prayers, and participation in what God is doing here at Optimus Life.

Grace and Peace amidst the renovations!

Bruce Smith

optimuslife.org             READ ON!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Ms. P wants to keep her old stuff because she is comfortable with it, she knows it and she’s afraid she won’t like the new stuff as well as she liked the old stuff. Her windows are in bad shape, they don’t seal well and they are difficult to open and close. Her argument on keeping her doors is that the old ones are wood, and the new metal ones don’t look as nice. She wants to keep them in spite of the fact that they don’t close properly due to the cracking and swelling that took place with them being under water.

  We as a construction team want the best for Miss P, and want to give her a quality job. Our ideas about replacing her windows and doors as well as her bath tubs differ greatly from what she wants us to do. We must gut her 2^nd floor in order to even be able to move forward. We know that replacing her doors, windows and tubs will provide her with the best job and result in a more efficient and comfortable living environment. She holds back from replacing these things because she likes them, is used to them, and knows how they have performed for her in the past. The problem is they will keep her from the better things we have for her and will affect her negatively in the long-term. Her doors will never close and seal properly, her windows will be leaky and cause her energy bills to run higher, and her tubs will stick out like sore thumbs with all of  their stains, chips and the marred finish.

  She is losing what she has been comfortable with and has known as normal for a long time, not to mention the last bastion of life before Katrina. Everything has changed for her and she is trying to cling to what’s left of the past she knew before the storm.

  How many times have we continued to cling to that which we know, in favor of embracing the things that God is calling us to? God may want to “gut “our bad habits, sinful desires, those things in our lives that are detrimental to our Christian walk, and we resist because we know it will be painful to let go of those things, and have the Lord “perform surgery” on our hearts, cutting out the bad to make room for new healthy growth, and in turn, a deeper relationship with Him. Just as we could not move forward with the reconstruction on Miss Pat’s home until we gutted her 2^nd floor, we cannot move forward in our relationship with God until we let him “gut” our hearts to make room for the good things He wants to do in our lives.

  There are other times in our Christian walk where God wants to bless us, but we don’t allow him to because we are afraid to give up the things we “know” for the unknown that he calls us to. Our call to join His work in Louisiana is a perfect example of this. God wants the best for us as a family, and if we would not have been willing to leave the comfort of our lives in Pennsylvania as we knew it, we would have missed out on the blessings that He had for us in New Orleans and His work there.

  Just as we know that trying to keep the old windows and doors on Miss P’s home won’t be beneficial for her in the long run, and will actually have a negative effect on her, our desire to hang on to the old comfortable things in our own lives can rob us of the blessings that God wants to give us.

  Do you sense God calling you to do something that doesn’t feel very comfortable? Is he asking you to follow His call somewhere away from where you are now? Maybe He’s simply calling you to be a friend to someone who doesn’t fit the profile of someone you would choose to befriend on your own. Is he asking you to give up a bad habit you have or a sinful desire that often plagues you?

  My challenge to you is to say YES to Him and allow him to do His work in your heart so that you don’t miss the blessings and the best He has waiting for you! Take that step of faith and see what unfolds. I can assure you it’s never easy, and it may be painful at first, but take the steps to follow God with all you have, and experience the blessings He has waiting for you!

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