God Speaking

“Have them entrust it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. And have these men pay the workers who repair the temple of the Lord.” (2 Kings 22:5)

Repairing and renovating often go hand in hand and those two words can evoke all sorts of emotions in one’s mind. How much is it going to cost? How much inconvenience will it entail? Will we be happy with the result? Can we trust those appointed for the job? My husband and I embarked on a major renovation on a holiday cabin which we wanted to convert to a year round permanent home. With much doubt and trepidation we accepted the quote from a young man who had just formed his own building company. When he arrived the first day with his team of what looked like to us, school boys, our fears deepened, but we need not have worried. The young boys were keen to prove they were worthy of the job and over the next few months became our friends. They ended up doing a wonderful job. The only complaint we had with the whole venture was the rapid weight gain our dog experienced. Our Beagle was always looking for that extra hand out and although I warned the boys not to share their lunches with him, those big brown eyes, somehow, over ruled my pleas.

I was remembering our renovation story while I was re-reading about another repairing and renovating story in the book of Kings, (2 Kings 22), which is also recorded in 2 Chronicles 34) Josiah, the boy king, loved his Lord God, but one day while looking at the sorry state of the temple decided a major overhaul was necessary and ordered repairs and renovations to begin and promised to supply the necessary funds. While the renovations were in process someone must have opened a dusty cupboard and found an equally dusty book that looked that it had not been opened for some time. Josiah was horrified to discover that this unopened book was actually God’s word, his law, and discovered how he and his people had not been obeying his commands. He called all the people together and had God’s word read and this was the result;

“The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord- to follow the Lord and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book.” (2 Chronicles 34:31)

Josiah was blessed for the rest of his reign.

Sometimes our own lives need a little repairing and renovating. Allowing the Holy Spirit to shine in some of the dusty corners of our everyday living, reveals truths we are perhaps overlooking. Our love for the Lord may have taken second place to earthly pursuits. David faced a challenge like this in his own life and this was his prayer;

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

We may have a broken relationship with a loved one that is in desperate need of repair. Our attitudes to others’ problems may have hardened and need a complete overhaul and renovation. Sometimes life itself drains us of any joyful feelings and we are in dire need of renewing, but take heart the Lord’s word is refreshing and powerful and can repair even low spirits, brokenness and attitudes;

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:16)

The good news about asking the Lord to do some renovating in our own lives, is there is no cost, no worry about how it will turn out, no wondering about the final result, just the joy of a closer walk with him.