May we SEE You in the process

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6
Recently God used my frustrations at the slow pace of our house renovations to allow me to SEE how He is renovating my heart. I love my house, but I would also love for my house to look exactly how I see it in my mind. My husband is very handy and we are very cheap (I mean frugal), so he does 99% of all of our house projects. This is great for saving money, but not so great for speed and efficiency. We are going room by room, and sometimes corner by corner as we make our house “our” house. However, to be honest, I wish so much that it could all be done…like yesterday. The project list is overwhelmingly long and includes every room and the entire yard. I know we will get there, but I find myself getting very impatient. I often compare our house to other’s houses, I tend to see only what is wrong and still needs to be fixed instead of focusing on how much we have already done.
One day as I was walking out the door after lamenting the paint color we have yet to change, it felt like God stopped me in my tracks and showed me a vital truth: I am like our house! I am a total work in progress. God has rescued me from sin (justification) and I am totally His, but now He is at work renovating my heart so that I begin to look more like Jesus (sanctification). The big difference is that, praise God, He doesn’t get frustrated with the amount of work He has to do in my heart. I am a mess, but He loves me just as I am, while lovingly (and sometimes painfully) growing me to look more like His Son. He goes slowly from area to area in my heart, cleaning out the old and making me new. The process is slow and long and will last until I see Him face to face, but He is hard at work in me.
Thankfully, He does not compare my heart to anyone else’s. He is only concerned with making me into who He desires me to be. He doesn’t want to throw His hands up in despair because it is taking too long. He patiently addresses an issue with me and often times has to readdress it again and again. The truth that God loves me just as much right now as He will when I look even more like Him is AMAZING. I think that I will like our house more once it looks like the picture in my mind. But God loves me, mess and all, just as I am at this moment. And yet, He loves me too much to let me stay just as I am at this moment. Because He loves me, He wants me to grow to look more like Jesus. I’ll admit that our house renovations seem very easy compared to the massive amount of work God has to do in my heart, but praise God He is a patient and loving “heart renovator” and willing to take on even the hardest of projects 🙂
“Lord, we want to SEE You in the process of renovating our hearts. Thank you for loving me, mess and all. I ask You to renovate my heart so that I can look more like Your precious Son, Jesus.”