By Candace Cortez
Happy Saturday! My husband and I just returned from our 10 year
anniversary trip to Italy! On one of our tours, they explained a part of the
restoration process on some of the art and buildings. The Colosseum, for
example, has recently been cleaned, which you can tell the drastic difference
between cleaned and uncleaned portions by looking at the layer of walls on the
inside compared to the outside walls. It was shocking to see what pollution can
do to stone.
I believe many of us are like those buildings. We feel like we have our
lives together for the most part. We feel strong and capable. When we don’t
feel those things, we have a hope we can get there eventually with enough hard
work. Especially living in this culture, our independence is a trophy in
itself. This feeling of self-security makes it difficult to depend on God. When
we do get brave or desperate enough to surrender a part of ourselves to the
Creator’s hands, we begin to see the difference between the old us, and the
restored us.
My parents were dumpster divers, always finding old unwanted pieces of
furniture and bringing them back to beauty and purpose. This sounds awesome,
but the process was difficult. There was sanding, scraping, chemical
treatments, ripping off old upholstery, and sometimes replacing parts
completely. When we surrender ourselves to God, He begins to do work in and
through us. The process is not always fun. Most of us live our lives feeling
fine. Choosing to be fine. It is not comfortable to realize you’ve been worn
out and broken this whole time. We get used to and sometimes fall in love with
the things that are broken in us, and shy away from the idea of being restored.
I have missed many areas in my life that still needed work, because of
this feeling of being restored enough. After years of working and surrendering
the parts of me that appeared the most dysfunctional, I have noticed a slowing
down of the restoration process. I do not believe this is because God has
deemed me “back to new”, but because I have lost sight of the inside layers
that are still filthy. Yes, the outside seems restored, but just like the inner
layer of the Colosseum, the comparison from inside to outside is kind of
shocking.
If we are not careful, Christians can stop at the outer layer. We can
say, “ok thanks God, I look better, and I’m all ready to do whatever You want.
You’ve taken away those addictions and helped me get better at using my
resources wisely, I’m good to go from here.” If we get here, another scary thing
can often happen. We can start to point the finger at other people who are not
as shiny on the outside and determine that they need more work than we do. This
is where the Pharisee’s found themselves. This is where I have found
myself so many times. But God works in a way that’s complete, comprehensive and
all consuming. He doesn’t want to just make our life appear better. He wants to
restore every layer back to His original design of relationship with
Him.
Some of us have been working with God a long time letting Him restore
our hearts. Some of us are just getting started. Some of us don’t even realize
that we need any work. But the truth is, we’re all broken. No matter what stage
of the renewing process you are in, God is still wanting to do more and the
results are incredible. If you’re feeling finished today, let God reveal
another layer and do His thing.
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