RE-DESIGN AT ITS FINEST “Our Inner Interior”

In our life’s pilgrimage we experience innumerable opportunities, many of them disguised as “impossibilities.”   Some of our open doors may even appear ludicrous, foolish, ridiculous, or just plain silly.

These occasions are often overlooked by us because they seem so insignificant and colorless.   We may dismiss them as ordinary events in life.   And that’s where our human vision has been blurred beyond recognition. 

When a follower of Jesus Christ has embraced His Word and is endeavoring to live it out in the climate of his or her world, the power of God begins to cleanse our inner cataracts and remove the blurred vision of our spiritual eyesight.   Without God’s work in our lives, we just don’t have the ability to see things around us with His perspective.

For me it began one afternoon as I was having tea with friends.   Great things happen when I’m having tea with friends, but today’s venture took a turn I never expected.

In our conversation together, I was at the listening end of things as my two friends were chatting.  My taste buds were enjoying the Earl Grey tea and my heart and ears were focused on their conversation.

The topic of talk was this woman’s bathroom.  Now for the men reading about this event, you’re wondering how could a bathroom dialogue be of any interest.  Just stay with me on this and you’ll see the progression. 

Our friend was commenting about how dingy and old her bathroom looked.  My other friend commented that all that could change and brought forth the suggestion that I be asked to look at the room and see what I could do.

Months prior to this, my good friend (as mentioned above) confided in me that she wanted me to have a look at her home and see if I could perhaps declutter, or bring a hint of re-design to her home.   We worked together in her house and she seemed pleased with the changes.

Now the consequence of my involvement came alive in this new home improvement deliberation.    Honestly, I was minding my own business here, and enjoying the tea when the topic took a turn to the “toilet” area of this woman’s home.

To be candid, I didn’t know where to look, but two pair of eyes were vigilant in my direction.   “Well, ok, what would you like me to look at?”

The next thing I remember is being escorted to the rest facility room and shown its condition.   My only response was, “let me just stay in the room and look around for a while.”   I mean a bathroom is also referred to as a “rest room;” and so the situation called for “resting and thinking.”

Yes, continue reading as this is going somewhere, but additional facts need to be exposed.   I began to look around and see several areas where there was clutter, a mixture of colors and things were just piled up on the counter.  

It was at this point that I decided to pray!   Yes, you read right, pray.  Someone had asked for some help and I wanted to involve God in this to see what He might say, and how He might direct any future creativity in this tiny space.

A few minutes had passed, and more than one idea came to mind about how to update and de-clutter this well-visited room.  I called out to my two friends to join me in the “little room.”    Just off the cuff I shared a few thoughts to get a heart compass on my ideas, and to see if she’d turn me loose.

Both friends laughed, but were very enthusiastic.  The owner wondered what in the world could be done with this messy room and the collage of colors in the towel department.   Like an army colonel, she discharged me to the task and both gals returned to their cups of tea.

About thirty minutes later, I disembarked from the area and invitations were given for a tour of the new room.   She went into emotional shock.  Things were organized, put away, towels assembled and folded as though they were arranged at a Bed Bath & Beyond store.

She was surprised, delighted, and a bit emotional that thirty minutes of my time would bring such joy and refreshment to this small space.  I got to finish my tea, exchange hugs with both friends, and off we were into the car.

My friend suggested that this was a special thing to do for our friend.  I thought it was just fun.   I cannot paint or draw.  My fingers can’t even express a stick figure on paper.   But when I’m organizing or arranging things in a home, it brings out some “creativity” and I enjoy the challenge.

Can you begin to see the “opportunity disguise” here?   Especially if you’re a Christian, everything we do for another is “ministry or service.” Everything we do “as unto the Lord (because we love Him) is not only serving another, it’s an act of worship to the Lord.

Our efforts of love and service to another person are like “cups of cold water” (Matthew 10:42) that God notices, uses, and blesses.

This “rearrangement” of things in peoples’ homes began as an insignificant activity; one I could never imagine as an outreach of love to others.

This small “opportunity” over twenty years ago has blossomed profusely.   Just to encourage me in this direction, a couple stopped at our home one day for tea.   I told you nice things happen over a “cuppa” tea.    Somehow this re-design activity came up in our conversation.   After some show and tell versions, the man and his wife had big smiles on their faces, and the husband said to me that “this was the most unusual, yet practical way” of touching the lives of others.

But it is true.   Loving others is a wonderful way to show them God loves and cares about their lives, and that He is delighted when we turn to Him in all our ways.    We can do things and get our results; or, we can turn to God and get His help, strength, wisdom, and His results.

I’ve been invited into many homes, some of which I would never have imagined.   Each time I’m asked and a suitable arrangement has been made, I begin with prayer.   One particular woman was so overjoyed and thankful that her expressions of gratitude just overflowed.  What she wasn’t aware of was, that it was God Who gives me the ideas and the things flow out from that vantage point.

On this particular day, this lovely woman was overwhelmed with tears and began her “accolades” again.   It was at this point I felt the need to give “credit where credit was due…..to God!”    As the opportunity opened up, I took her hand and shared with her that God loved her and knows all there is to know about her.  And He alone, would know what arrangement in her home would be practical and easy to live with.   She was also informed that I prayed for her and her home before I even arrived.  

In a spontaneous fashion, I held out both arms (one toward her and the other toward her daughter) and said, “Let’s pray together and thank Him for what He has provided for you.”   There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. 

Sometimes I use these occasions to share that not only does God love us, but He knows all there is to know about us.  He knows more about you and me than we know about ourselves.    He created our personality, and is keenly aware of things we enjoy and don’t enjoy.  

In the way I work in someone’s home, I listen to them and get a feel for how they use their home.   So when I’m turned loose, I begin slowly to move, arrange, and re-arrange the furniture, then perhaps the lamps and pictures on the walls, etc.   At the end of the project, the owners seem to enjoy the ease, layout, and work-ability of their home goods.  

God’s desire is that we represent Him well in our corner of the world.   When we surrender our lives over to Jesus Christ, He enters our life immediately by the real and living presence of the Holy Spirit.   Then He begins the “redesign” of our lives….our inner beings, shaping and molding us into a beautiful representative of Jesus.  God’s makeovers create an inner beauty within us.   His creative touch transforms us so that we are “more like Jesus” in how we behave, respond, speak and listen to others.

Yes, He loves us just as we are, but He loves us too much to leave us there.   Our entire lives are the school where the slow and steady and beautiful transformation begins. 

So when I work in someone’s home and the opportunity presents itself, I share that, similar to what I do in their home, is a tiny glimpse at the process God performs in those committed to following Him.

Our human nature needs God’s “renewal and restorative” touch because we don’t proceed out of the womb and into our world with a ready made character that’s wonderful.   We usually enter our world with a “me first” attitude, and the selfcenteredness progresses into full blown selfishness.

He re-arranges, alters, declutters our speech, attitudes and behavior, and builds a beautiful character that is winsome and delightful for others to see.   Our lives are to express His nature of love, acceptance, and honoring behavior to a Holy God.  

Our lives are very influential!   What I mean by that is whether we’re aware of it or not, how we live does impact and influence others.

For you see, others will form an opinion about Christ after they’ve spent time with you and with me. 

This truth is a constant compass guiding my behavior.  I’m far from perfect, but I’m continually in the “character class” of my Savior, because I love Him, and wish to be a fragrance of Christ to those I meet.

Everyone is special, and God longs to use His children to display His love through them so that others may come to realize also how special they are to Him.   His presence within us should create a hunger and thirst in others for His life-giving presence.

OTHERS WILL FORM AN OPINION ABOUT JESUS CHRIST….after they’ve been with you and with me. Will their opinion be an accurate reflection of Who He is? 

WOULDN’T THIS BE A WONDERFUL LIFE GOAL!!

What else in life really matters?

This isn’t a Bible study class, but I would like to list some questions I’ve been considering for my own life to help me evaluate my day-to-day interaction with others.

What do people understand about God……from my life?

What do my neighbors understand about God…..from my behavior? 

What do my relatives understand about God …….from my behavior? 

What do my friends understand about God ……….from my behavior? 

What does my husband understand about God …from my behavior? 

What do my children understand about God ……..from my behavior? 

What do my “sand paper people” understand about God” from my behavior? 

What do strangers I meet understand about God from my behavior? 

What does my mailman understand about God from my behavior? 

What does my boss understand about God from my behavior? 

What do people I see at the grocery, bank, post office, shops, parking lots, pulling out of church, school, my employment, my small group or Bible study understand about God ……………………..from my behavior?

What do people understand about God from?

My speech? 

My joking?

My responses or reactions?

The way I reach out to others?

The way I offer suggestions?

The way I greet people at church on Sunday?

The way I listen to others?

How I respond to criticism (valid or not)?

How I respond to an injustice or slander?

How I talk about others?

From the activities or television or movies I watch?

There is a splendid song called “Beautiful Things” that can be found by googling it on your computer.  Below are the lyrics, but it’s a must listen which encapsulates God’s redeeming work in our lives.

Beautiful Things   By Gungor

All this pain
I wonder if I’ll ever find my way
I wonder if my life could really change, at all
All this earth
Could all that is lost ever be found?
Could a garden come out from this ground, at all?

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

All around,
Hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found, in you

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things