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Several years ago, my husband and I purchased an old house.  It wasn’t just an old house.  This old house hadn’t been lived in for at least twenty years.  It was an old house that had plywood in the windows instead of glass.  There were dead things in it!  Animals…no people!!!  No, that would have been a deal breaker! 

What we were thinking I couldn’t tell you.  My poor mom thought we had most certainly lost our minds.  And honestly, she kinda had a point.  After all, we had five kids at the time.  It took months of work before we could even move into the house.  And yes, we are still working on it!

We saw what it was meant to be!

Thing is, we just fell in love with the house.  It has lots of six and a half foot tall windows, rosettes on all the trim, beaded board everywhere, wainscoting, a great big yard for our kids to play in, and this massive front porch!  When we looked at it, we didn’t so much see the condition it was actually in as much as we saw what it could be, what it was meant to be.  So, we bought it.

When the house was built, there was a plan.  It may not have been evident when we bought it, but the builder had an idea of what the house would look like, what it would be used for, where it would be and so on.  He didn’t just throw a bunch of wood together and hope it would stay.  As expected, it was put together on purpose with a purpose.  Therefore, it was beautiful.

God’s Masterpiece

In the same way, we were created by God on purpose and with a purpose.  We weren’t just thrown together with no rhyme or reason.

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.”

“Masterpiece?”  Another translation says handiwork.  We are God’s handiwork, His masterpiece.  He had a purpose in creating each and every one of us.   And likewise, His creation was beautiful.

The problem is, this world just beats up on us.  So, we don’t look anything like that masterpiece!  In the same way, when we bought our old house, storms had come and brought damage, kids had thrown rocks and broken the windows, it was abandoned, and things had crawled inside and died.  This happens to us, doesn’t it?  The normal storms that life bring may leave us tattered and bruised.  People abuse us and break parts of us that we feel may never be put back together.  Sometimes we are left alone to just try to survive.  Sometimes we open wide the front door and let things get inside of us. Things that shouldn’t be there.  And those things just make us feel dead inside.  We feel ugly, worthless, broken down. The end result is, we don’t look anything like the masterpiece God had in mind.

I don’t know about you, but I have definitely been there before.  There was a time in my life that I simply would not, could not, look people in the eye.  Not only was I sure that I did not matter, I was sure I was unlovable.  After all, there had to be something terribly wrong with me for people to treat me the way they did.

More importantly, I was convinced that if there was a God, He certainly didn’t care about me.

But listen closely. I was wrong!

I was looking in the wrong places for love and for healing. And then…

I finally looked up. 

When I did, I found the God of all creation was waiting for me. He was waiting to show me just how much He loved me.  He would not force Himself on me.  But He waited for the very second I turned to Him.  Then, He met me where I was.   Me, the broken little girl living in a woman’s body.  Me, the woman who helped dig the pit she lived in.   Wound by wound, piece by piece, He began to heal the brokenness in me.  He taught me what love is.  And I began to realize that I was loved.   

I am loved!

And so are you!

He began the process of turning me into the person He created me to be.  No, I’m not there yet.  It takes time.  And honestly, I doubt I could have dealt with everything all at once anyway.  Of course, He knew that. But I know that He’s not finished with me yet.  In Philippians 1:6 God tells me “that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”.  No, He will not leave me undone!

Does any of this hit home with you?

So, I’m wondering, does any of this hit home with you?  Are you tracking with me at all?  If so, I urge you to look up.  Look up to the One who made you.  He is the only One who can heal the hurts this world brings.  He is the only One who can clean us out and put us back together the way we are supposed to be. He loves you!

Let me say that again.  He loves you!  And His is a love you can trust.

Over the next couple of weeks, I will tell you more about this incredible love of God. My heart is for you to understand just how very much He loves you. So, I hope you will join me. 

Until then, look up!