Gut Job

There are times when you walk into an area of a home and simply declare it a total “gut and rebuild.” For any number of reasons the area needs to have everything ripped out of it, solely leaving behind the studs. Even those are likely to be replaced because more often than not, during this type of renovation, the layout is changed, requiring studs to be rearranged and fortified in order to create a new space for living enjoyment. In situations like that, a vision for what that area will become helps get you through the mess, the delays, and the chaos. Being able to know that it will look brand new – unlike anything it used to be, and that you’ll really love living in it when it’s finished, provides the motivation to push through and complete the job.

Inner healing can feel much the same way – like having everything ripped out down to the studs and the area rearranged, until there’s nothing left of the former self in that space. It reaches into places you may have wanted to leave untouched or entirely hidden; places you’ve purposefully chosen to ignore. It can touch areas beyond repair, resulting in an experience that can be gut wrenching, painful beyond description. However, when you know that the finished restoration will exceed anything you’d ever hoped for because the Master Builder is the One at work and He’s promised that His work will always far exceed anything we could ever ask for or imagine in our own minds, you can have a vision, even if that vision is simply a hope, for what will be when the renovation is complete.  This is what compels you to move forward through the process, through the pain.

Sometimes the most challenging aspect can be the time required for the project to be completed. Oftentimes, homeowners hit a point of frustration because things are beginning to come together and it’s nearing the time of being able to move into and enjoy the space, but there’s additional time needed for completion. Certain elements need to “cure,” paint colors still need to be finalized, special order items haven’t arrived yet, delaying installation and leaving the homeowners anxious to simply get things finished. Perhaps it’s even causing them to become angry with their Builder because the process may be taking longer than expected. They no longer want to wait for the custom cabinets or finishes to arrive. They just want to be done, but it’s those custom pieces that make the space unique…individual. If the owners move into the space too soon, they’ll never be satisfied because that area will always remind them that they settled for less and that it never fully became all that it could have been because they were impatient.

It takes trust in your General Contractor to believe that a project like this really will come together, become what has been promised to you and that it will be completed in perfect timing. Allowing this depth of work in one’s own heart requires a belief that even though it’s painful, the process is one that is filled with absolute love for you and that your heart is being held with hands that are well-acquainted with the kind of suffering, rejection, fear, or abandonment you may be experiencing. There is nothing He hasn’t suffered on our behalf – He’s been here in this place before us and it is His unfailing love that not only sustains us through the renovation process, but also leaves us strengthened and able to enjoy the newness created within our hearts and souls.