Remodel or Rebuild

"The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker;
he roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses.
He shapes it in the form of man, of man in all his glory, that it may dwell in a shrine."

Isaiah 44:13


I've never understood why at times fast food establishments and other restaurants completely demolish established stores just to rebuild them at the same site. In my mind it would be better to just remodel than to rebuild-obviously construction is not my occupation.

I have remodeled a few structures in my life and even oversaw an office being constructed once. When I was younger, my family spent an entire summer tearing down the first house my parents lived in. I remember my dad taking a sledge hammer to the plaster walls. All the lathes, the dust, the debris- it was a MESS. We were tearing out the old and salvaging the frame work to build an addition onto our house. It was my brother and my job to pull the nails out of the boards and stack them to the side. When the summer ended, my dad doused the rubble with gasoline and the remains went up in smoke.

I have been told that in the choice to remodel or rebuild a structure, you must weigh all the factors- is the present structure sound? Does it just need cosmetic changes or does it need to be gutted and totally rebuilt from the floor up? And who determines what's salvageable or what's better to completely demolish? The answer to those questions is, someone who is an expert- someone who does have construction as an occupation.

How about our lives? Should we be remodeled or rebuilt? How firm is the foundation we are built on? How strong are the supports in our lives? Do you need a total overhaul or just a paint job? Will a little spackle do it or shall we bring in the bulldozer? And who should we allow to judge this task? God of course. He made us, He is the Master Builder our Earthly Creator. Who better to answer these questions? Isn't the One that made us in His own image the same One that should remodel and rebuild us?

My life has been like that old house my family demolished. Parts of it have been strong and are worth keeping and others... well let's say there are parts that have needed to have a match and gas can taken to them and God has done that at times in my life. There have been trials in my life that I could see coming and I corrected, made the right adjustments and got away with a little "cosmetic touch" and others that He brought in the wrecking ball to fix.

I believe that our God is Sovereign. That He knows what's best for us and wants that for us, even if it takes major renovations. I encourage you to look at the rooms in your physical house, ask God where it can be strengthened, where can it be fixed or even where it needs to be totally torn out and rebuilt. He knows us better than we know ourselves and He's ready to complete us.

Julie