Ecclesiastes 3:3b
A time to tear down, and a time to build up.
When we hear the words “tear down” or “build up” what comes to mind? I picture a house either under construction or renovation. But when we really stop and think for awhile there are many other things that can come to mind. Let’s pause a moment and think of some of those things that we tend to “tear down” and “build up”.
Relationships. Emotional barriers. Political Barriers. Buildings.
A look into the renovation of a house can help us see how that can also relate to the renovation of the soul of a person.
Our first step is to find a house in need of some TLC (tender loving care).
This house may only need minimal repair. It will take a short time to restructure into a safe, loving environment.
Or it may be in need of major repair. Maybe even a complete overhaul. It may need to be demolished and rebuilt from the ground up so that it can be a safe, loving home for a family.
As you are looking for the perfect house to renovate, you take the time to consider the following things.
Cost. Time. Resources. Manpower. The vision you have for that house.
People are like those houses. All of us are broken and in need of repair. Some need minimal restructuring, but others may need a complete overhaul. Some even come with feelings that they are not worthy of the TLC that can help bring a new vision and beauty beyond comparison.
When working with people we don’t always have the option of selecting who we are going to help or how much they will need help. God brings people into our lives that He would have us to help. As we get to know them we discover what type of house they are: minimal or major overhaul.
The second step in renovating a house is that we need to be able to see the potential, the beauty in what that house can look like. Once we see the vision for the home we start to make plans as to what needs to be done to make it reach it’s fullest potential.
Looking at it. Walking through it. Hearing the stories behind it. Praying about what God would have us to do with it. Counting the cost. Planning the next steps. These are all things that will help us to see the potential of the broken house and how to turn it into the most beautiful productive house on the block.
When working with people we need to take the time to pray and ask God to show us the potential that person has. We ask, “What is God’s original design for this person?” Then we start to look at their situation. Walk with them through the tough times. Hear the stories of their life. Spend some time counting the cost of what it will take to speak new life and healing into their life. Asking God to help you know what needs to be done to help guide this person into the person He wants them to be.
The third step is to design a plan that will take the house from where it is to where it is going to be as a completed, beautiful house that others are drawn to. Those plans often include tearing down walls or even the entire house. Depending on the damage that needs to be repaired to make it into a masterpiece.
The plan will have many steps. Tearing down walls. Building new ones. Paint. Pictures. Furniture. Final product – a beautiful renovated home.
When a person is being renovated they need a plan. Romans 12:2a says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Renewing of your mind can be a difficult road for some people. They may have been abused and put down most of their life and only know those negative words. Those things that have been said and done to them for so long that that is all they know. It is what is normal. To renew their mind they need the help of someone to come alongside them and guide them to the next healing point. Helping them to take down walls and build up the new walls that form a strong confidence.
The fourth step is to put into action the plan that has been laid out. Sometimes along the way we need to change the plan a little. Always keeping in front of us the goal that has been laid out before us. The final product. The vision of the potential masterpiece.
The individual person has an action plan as well. A plan that will take them from where they are to where God wants them to be. Sometimes the plan has many steps and sometimes it has just a few. But when the person has a life coach to help them through those steps, they don’t seem to be as hard to get through as when they are on their own.
A team working together gets the job done quicker and more efficiently. When renovating our soul the Lord is to be our key master builder. We as life coaches and friends come along and help to point the person back to the master builder.
As the builder uses many tools, hammers, screwdrivers, saws, God uses tools in the form of people, circumstances, His Word to make us into the person He would have us to be.
As a team, we are to bear one another burdens. (Galatians 6:2) Encourage one another. (I Thessalonians 5:11; Hebrews 3:13;10:25) Build each other up in the Word of the Lord.
When the renovations are complete we can step back and see the Masterpiece. Whether it is an elegant house or a plain house, it is beautiful in the eyes of the one who renovated it into the house full of potential and meeting the dreams of the builder.
Elegant or plain both are beautiful masterpieces.
When God completes the masterpiece of a person’s life they are beautiful on the inside and the out. They are created to be who God would have them to be.
As someone who helped in the renovation of the person, we celebrate and rejoice at the new creation God created. We continue to encourage them to grow in the Lord.
This renovation of souls is what God has called each of us to do. We are to come alongside those in need and help them. Show them God’s love and help them through the power of prayer and God’s Word to make the changes that need to be made to grow in His strength and power.
What is God calling you to do? Is there someone that God would have you invest in? Are you allowing God to renovate you? To turn you into His masterpiece?
Prayer:
Father, we come to you today asking you to start by renovating our lives into the masterpiece that you have for us to be. We also ask for you to bring into our lives the people you want us to speak life into and help to become the people you designed them to be. Guide us through the plans you have for us. Plans for good with a hope and a future. Thank you, Lord for constantly working in our lives. Thank you for hearing and answering our prayers according to Your good and perfect will. Amen.