Renovation, Rejuvenation, Restoration

Who Needs a Major Makeover?

My husband and I are "boat people." Not the kind that fled from Viet Nam to escape a tyrannical government with only the clothes on their backs. We’re the kind of boat people who drive half a day to wait in line over an hour at the boat landing just to take a 30 minute boat ride.

My husband is actually more of a boat person than I am. Having nearly drowned in a high school swimming class, I don’t much like water much and could live without setting foot in it except that I must take a shower occasionally.

Tom grew up in the country on a small private lake. He’s spent nearly as much of his life in water as he’s spent on land. He’s so impassioned with antique wood boats that he owns not just one but several. I call it an obsession; he calls it an investment. He restores these boats; and he can’t resist a rotted hull when he sees one. It excites him as much as finding buried treasure. Actually, I guess his boats are treasures, because their value skyrockets once they’ve been refurbished.

When I look at a dilapidated boat, I see peeling paint, rusted chrome, and rotted wood; but my husband envisions its previous splendor and the magnificent treasure that it will be after he's worked his magic. When Tom acquires a boat, like a restless race horse at the starting gate, he’s excited to begin restoring it to perfection.

That’s just how God is with us. He sees our hearts and what we're made of; but He also knows what we can be, if we allow Him to renovate us from the inside out. Like my husband with boats, God is eager to work at perfecting His people. We, however are not usually eager to let Him. We're content to remain as we are. That is, until life falls apart. When things go wrong, we tend to soften and become more compliant and changeable.

The boats that come to my husband's shop for rejuvenation look aged, battle scarred, and worn out. Yet, they’re never beyond repair.

Tom often guts entire sections that have rotted. With tender care, he reconstructs them. He replaces missing parts, overhauls the engine, and refinishes the chrome. The last step in the restoration is applying layers of varnish, then sanding and polishing to produce a smooth finish in which he sees his reflection. Over several months,

Tom transforms old wrecks into trophy winners. What makes the difference? It’s the skillful hand of a craftsman who knows what he's doing.

When it comes to people, God is the master craftsman. Who better than our creator could transform our brokeness? Even renovations that we consider impossible become glorious possibilities with the master's touch.

Do you feel like a battered old boat, beaten by the rough waves and jagged rocks of life? Have you suffered misuse and neglect like a peeling, rotted hull left in the sun? Have you been used up, and tossed aside, no longer able to stay afloat in the sea of adversity?

Maybe, like an antique boat, you need a restoration.

God wants to remove from your heart the decayed parts affected by bitterness, selfishness, or other sins. Just as my husband is compelled to undertake boat projects because he’s anxious to see what it can become, God is also eager to see His purpose for us completed. His goal is a total makeover of our attitudes and actions, and He persevered until we are perfected.

God won’t rest until he’s totally reconditioned you. And if you don’t resist his makeover, you’ll become like Him. Then, like the new finish of a renovated wood boat, you will reflect the image of the one who restored you.

Though God loves you just as you are, He can't leave you that way any more than my husband can resist an old weathered boat. Tom has a gift for recognizing what’s precious, then taking what's old and worn out and making it new again. But there is a greater workman who lovingly perfects the people He loves.

Will you allow His masterful touch to restore your heart?

- Marsha Jordan -

[ by Marsha Jordan Copyright © 2004, (jordans@newnorth.net) -- submitted by: Marsha Jordan ]