Remodeling

Isaiah 58:12
“And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.”

The verse above was talking about a day when a generation would rise up and rebuild the waste place torn down through captivity. God gave a name to these young people; God called them "The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in." In other words, these young people would spend their lives remodeling that which was torn down.

Years ago when I worked in the construction field, we remodeled many homes. Remodeling took patience because you were rebuilding upon a work that someone else had built. If that previous builder did not do everything right when they built the house, then it could become quite frustrating trying to fix what they had done.

I say this because I believe every Christian should be in the remodeling business. Before you go out and get your construction license, I am talking about remodeling the lives of those whom sin has broken or ruined. We have the very tool that can rebuild any life, and that tool is the Bible. But we must realize that when we remodel lives, there are some things we will have to do in order to be successful.

First, it will take a vision to see what that life can become. You will never be successful in remodeling lives if you don't have a vision for that life. That's what God did with our life. God saw what we could become and then started the remodeling process in our life. We must have a vision for those whose lives are broken by sin if we are going to be successful in helping them remodel their lives.

Secondly, we will have to tear down that which destroyed their life. When you remodel something, there is a tearing down process. In remodeling lives, you must tear down the things that broke their life. You cannot leave that which broke their life there, for if we do it will break them again.

Thirdly, you must replace the bad with good. Remodeling lives is not an easy task, but if we take something away, then we must replace it with good. This is the law of replacement! Whether it's someone else's life or your life, any time we tear down bad, we must replace that vacancy with good.

Fourthly, you must always be ready for the unexpected. It never failed, when we remodeled a home an unexpected obstacle would always come up. When you remodel lives, you must always be ready for the unexpected. You cannot let a set back in someone's life stop you from getting to the vision you had for that person. You must realize there will be set backs, but you must keep trying to remodel that life into the image you originally saw they could become.

Lastly, it takes hard work to remodel. Don't think that remodeling someone's life is going to be easy. It won't! There will be times when you will want to give up, but you must keep working with them. There will be times when you will wonder if you are getting anywhere with them, but you must not give up. If you keep at it, you will see the results in time to come.

Christian, your life will never be fulfilled as a Christian unless you start investing your life in remodeling the lives of others. Whether it is your child, a person you teach in your Sunday school class, a bus rider or a friend in the church, keep working with them and don't give up. Remember what that person can become, and keep working with them until you see the vision you originally had for their life come to fruition.