Teaching Tuesday- We Buy Ugly Houses

You've probably seen those commercials on TV that say, "We buy ugly houses!" Sometimes the house will look worn down on the outside or the inside might need updating. Sometimes the bones might be infested with termites or the plumbing might not be up to date. Investors come in, offer a certain amount of money for the property and the owners decide to take the deal or no deal.

Just yesterday as I was driving down the road I saw one of the local signs for "We buy ugly houses". Having bought and restored two, one hundred year old homes in my lifetime the thought immediately struck me in rebellion...."Ugly is relative." I remember walking through the "awesome house" (nickname my daughter gave our first remodel) for the first time. Shag carpet, musty smells, outdated wallpaper, appliances that needed to be replaced, painting that needed to be done, weak flooring, electrical that would scare even the bravest electrician... and yet, the beauty of the house...the character, the shiplap, the space, the layout, the vision....it was all there...just waiting to be uncovered.

Our journey with Christ is filled with similarities. When He finds us, he finds the weak, the bitter, the sin infested, the unkept. When we begin our relationship and He begins working in our "ugly house", things begin to change. Oh, it may take some time to clean up the cobwebs and to rewire our thinking, but He does the constructive work and we are made beautiful and restored in His time.

I needed to be reminded of this yesterday. Sometimes the enemy reminds you of all the repairs needing to be done in your life and there can be a sense of unwelcomed urgency to bandaid fix all our sins, issues, struggles and shortcomings. Jesus isn't a bandaid fix. He makes all things beautiful in His time. We don't have to rush His work, we just have to be willing to be worked on and cleaned up as He does the remodel.