Yesterday I staged a home that just went on the market.
There is always a fire in me when I stage a place, ideas swirling, possibilities showing their shiny little faces.
Often the homes I go into are in need of far more than a decorator’s touch. They are cluttered, messy and crying out for some organization.
And so, I have to go in and clean and declutter before I can do what I really came there to do. This, I would say, is the norm.
But yesterday’s home was a stager’s dream.
It was neat and tidy, not a thing out of place.
The homeowner had done all of the preliminary work of cleaning out, boxing up and throwing away.
The result was a blank canvas for me to work with.
She had paved the way for my finishing work of beautifying.
To make her house a home.
The perfect set up.
It made me think…
How many times do we ask God to do things in and through us without first cleaning out the closets, removing the trash and eliminating the things that are making our lives less than the beauty God intends?
I know that I’ve asked God to transform me, not recognizing my need to first prepare the canvas for His work.
The result? He DOES come in to transform, but has to spend much of His time and mine weeding out what would negate anything lovely.
Because God, the ultimate Decorator of our lives, does not cover mess with beauty.
Imagine this:
What if I were preparing a home for professional real estate photos, the home was a disaster and I attempted to just do my thing any way, right over the chaos? I would be fired in a flash second. Anything that I would bring in to beautify would be lost in the clutter of something ugly.
It just doesn’t make sense.
I need to inventory daily. To see where my heart is becoming cluttered or dirty and do something about it. To rid myself of the sneaky culprits of pride and selfishness, impatience and jealousy.
Anything that uglifies my heart.
To continually offer Jesus an empty canvas, ready for His great design.
So here it is, Lord, the “house” of my life as empty as I know to make it. If there are messy “closets” or dusty “corners” I’m not aware of, show me, so we can take care of it together and move on to the fun stuff. 🙂
Make my “house” Your beautiful home….
