My House Threw UP

By Sue Whitson



My house threw up. My boys are finishing my bathroom and installing a sink in my laundry room this weekend. Everything is an absolute mess. I’ve been living in this unfinished house for five years, and I’ve accumulated a few things. Life as usual can’t go on right now. I can’t find my kitchen table, and much of the seating in my house is unavailable. Cooking is hard. Meals are makeshift. Our normal family meals are wherever we can find a place to sit. I’m missing our mealtime discussions, and my “no eating outside of the kitchen” rule has been suspended, resulting in having to chase down dishes from all over. It’s a bit overwhelming, but it’s only temporary. In the end, it will be worth it.

The Bible compares your life to a house. It will be unfinished until the day God calls you home. Is your life a mess? Do you feel like you can’t get anything done? Is communication with those you love breaking down? Are you working your tail off cleaning up other people’s messes?

Consider that perhaps God has sent a couple of brothers into your life to create something new. Even if the mess has gone on for years, understand that it’s only temporary in comparison to eternity. Use the time to clean, set priorities, and eliminate things you no longer need.

Take the time to pray. Ask God to show you how to get through this season. It may seem like everything is covered with sin. Ask God what to concentrate on. Take one thing at a time. He didn’t instruct Joshua to take the whole land of Canaan at once. It was one city at a time. Look over your life. We tend to accumulate a lot of stuff.  Some of it is trash that shouldn’t have been stuffed away - like grudges. But there are also those good things that served us well in the past, that you don’t have time for anymore: hobbies, ministries, even friendships. It’s hard, but you’ll get there.   

Father, I thank You that You are right there with us in our mess. Show us Your ways. Give us a vision of the end result. We won’t drown if we keep our eyes on You. Help us to trust and obey. In Jesus' Name, Amen.  


 

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