Old Door = Lots of Work

As we were scraping the paint off of a door, one question came up over and over.  “Why don’t we just buy a new door?”  New doors are pretty and come in all kinds of colors and stains.  And this one was a lot of work.

If we would have bought a new door, here’s what we would have missed:

·         The chance to be used to bring out the inner beauty of the current door

·         The laughter and frustration that goes into scraping away the layers

·         The joy of seeing spots where the wood started to show through as we used chemicals and tools to get through 60 years of paint

·         The original character of the door to shine through

As we were reading the story of the adulterous woman (John 7:53-8:11), I was struck by the fact that God doesn’t throw us away and start over. 

He chooses to make us new. 

He is willing to keep scraping away until our inner beauty—who He created us to be—shines through.  Sometimes, it means using a chemical stripper that burns.  Sometimes, it’s surrounding us with a team of people scraping, laughing and commiserating together. Sometimes it goes quickly; other times, it seems like forever.

While I can’t relate to the adulterous woman in her exact sin, I can see myself being thrown in front of people—being called out publicly—for other things I’ve done.  How thankful I am that my God loves me enough to not stone me or throw me away and start over.

Lamentations 3:22-23

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”