This weekend I was at a home show, surrounded by dozens of vendors ranging from remodeling to roofing to windows, and more. It got me thinking about when we need to make changes to our lives.
Life, like a home, goes through various stages of decay and disarray.
When it comes to a home, there are times a simple refresh does the trick. A new coat of paint. Different décor. A good deep cleaning. Other homes require more significant work, such as a new roof, windows, or drywall. On some occasions, there may be extensive damage to the framework or other structural aspects where things need to be torn down to the foundation. Maybe even the foundation needs to be repaired.
When we encounter brokenness in our life, discerning the damage is vital as we begin the repair work. If we don’t, we may end up doing work that is overkill or not enough.
If our home needs new windows, we won’t tear the house down. If our lives need minor adjustments, we likely wouldn’t invest a significant amount of time working on it.
The greater threat is at the other end of the spectrum. If many of the 2×4’s in the frame of our house were rotting, we wouldn’t just slap another coat of paint on the walls. The same is true for our life. If our life calls for serious, deep work, we might need to tear things down to the foundation and rebuild.
Every life, like every home, needs repairs from time to time. Those who think we don’t are either naïve or living in denial. When those repairs needs to be done, we must be honest with ourselves about severity of the damage and what kind of work is required.
A house built on a damaged foundation will be unstable and everything built on top of it will be less sturdy. When you feel like your life becomes unsteady, it may be time to inspect your heart, mind, and soul, find the areas that need repair, and determine what steps you need to take next.
Regardless of what needs to be done, life is too short and too important to ignore the repairs we might be avoiding. Even if the task seems daunting, embarking on the journey will always be better in the long run than simply slapping on another coat of paint.
Breaking Into Peace 