Empty spaces
"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation." Matthew 12:43-45
Have you ever looked into an abandoned house? Even if the owners have cleaned it out well and cared for it well while they lived there, it doesn't take long for it not to be so abandoned anymore. Mice, bugs, and critters of all sorts move in. Dust and filth cover everything. Sometimes people come in to stay - and don't always have the best of motives or intentions. The point is, the house is no longer clean and occupied by people who are taking care of it. Why? Because a new owner was never declared. A house needs an owner who lives there taking care of it, or it gets taken over by not so great occupants.
We are like that. We have to decide to allow our Owner to take care of us, to live in us, to clean us and refine us, repair and remodel us. If we don't let the Owner in, other not so pleasant occupants will come in. You see, we have to be filled with something, good or bad, you can't truly be empty. Oh, we sometimes feel empty, but that is just being filled with the wrong things - self-pity, self-loathing, darkness, lies. To be filled with God is to be filled with Light - perfectly showing the corners and cracks that still have those "critters" lurking in them. Cleaning them out, purifying and refining. Sometimes it takes pulling up a few rotten boards or moving a wall to create a more useful space. Often, that is painful. But we are told so often (check out 1 Peter!) that the suffering is something to rejoice in. The pain is a good thing, if we will just keep the perspective that the pain means a remodel that was necessary for our growth, and, more importantly, for God's glory.
Oh, Father, may we all allow You to be the Perfect Owner of our lives. May we all rejoice as You work Your remodelling plans in our broken down houses.
Have you ever looked into an abandoned house? Even if the owners have cleaned it out well and cared for it well while they lived there, it doesn't take long for it not to be so abandoned anymore. Mice, bugs, and critters of all sorts move in. Dust and filth cover everything. Sometimes people come in to stay - and don't always have the best of motives or intentions. The point is, the house is no longer clean and occupied by people who are taking care of it. Why? Because a new owner was never declared. A house needs an owner who lives there taking care of it, or it gets taken over by not so great occupants.
We are like that. We have to decide to allow our Owner to take care of us, to live in us, to clean us and refine us, repair and remodel us. If we don't let the Owner in, other not so pleasant occupants will come in. You see, we have to be filled with something, good or bad, you can't truly be empty. Oh, we sometimes feel empty, but that is just being filled with the wrong things - self-pity, self-loathing, darkness, lies. To be filled with God is to be filled with Light - perfectly showing the corners and cracks that still have those "critters" lurking in them. Cleaning them out, purifying and refining. Sometimes it takes pulling up a few rotten boards or moving a wall to create a more useful space. Often, that is painful. But we are told so often (check out 1 Peter!) that the suffering is something to rejoice in. The pain is a good thing, if we will just keep the perspective that the pain means a remodel that was necessary for our growth, and, more importantly, for God's glory.
Oh, Father, may we all allow You to be the Perfect Owner of our lives. May we all rejoice as You work Your remodelling plans in our broken down houses.
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