The Renovation is Complete

Those are the words I heard Him whisper to me as I was lying in bed the other night. “The renovation is complete.” After hearing that, I caught a glimpse of a house. I saw the huge living room with a two-story high ceiling and a wall of windows looking outside. To the right I could make out a loft area with a kitchen beneath it. It was an awesome house. So much of it is what I want in a house. Then I heard Him say, “It doesn’t matter what the house used to be like. The renovation is complete.”

So what do you do with a house that’s been completely paid off and completely renovated? Well, you enjoy it! You don’t look around for things to make it better. It’s finished. Everything you want in a house is there. So, you go plop down in your newly furnished living room and take a nap. That’s what I would do.

Then I heard Jesus say, “This isn’t just your house, this is you. Come rest in who you are.” There was nothing to be done. I was just free to lie down on the couch and take a nap. It feels so unproductive, yet isn’t it what we want? I’ve spent the past fifteen years of my life trying to do renovations on my house. Satan has been there putting in his two cents on the project too:

“Oh, Ryan, people won’t like that room, let’s lock that door. Oh, those windows let people see in too easily, lets pull the curtains. Those colors are too bold, let’s cover those up with this wallpaper. That fire is dangerous, you might burn your whole house down, let’s put that out.”

And I’ve listened. I’ve pulled the curtains, covered up the colorful walls, put out the fire, and locked the doors to the rooms I don’t think other people will like. And what I’ve come out with is a bunker instead of a home that is “safe” but also terribly boring. I’ve created a toned down version of myself that fits in. But the problem is I wasn’t made to look like everybody else. My relationship with God wasn’t designed to look like yours. My strengths aren’t the same as your strengths. My house looks different than yours.

Satan’s suggestions have been subtle, but directed attacks on my identity. They have been attempts to clip my wings and stamp out my passion. He has tried to rob me of my place as a son in the Kingdom. Try as he might though, my place in the Kingdom isn’t up for grabs. My identity isn’t hanging in the balance. I’ve been hidden in Christ and He’s been hidden in me. It’s a union that is spectacularly irreversible.

In the past several months, Jesus has been walking around taking down the blinds, relighting the fire in the fireplace, tearing down the wallpaper, and unlocking the doors to the places I’ve long held shut-up. And as He walks around, He looks at me with a smile that melts my shame and says, “Child, I love these windows. I chose those colors just for you. You love that fireplace. Oh, and that room that you’ve locked up, that’s one of my favorites.” There’s nothing for Him to fix in the house, just places to be uncovered.

So in this season Jesus has not been calling me forward to a place of newness; He’s been calling me backwards to the cross where newness was made complete. So wherever satan has told you to pull the curtains, I dare you to let the Son in. Your renovation is complete.