God is still perfecting us.

“You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.”

“but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away”
1 Corinthians 13:10 New American Standard Bible

My friends are living through a household renovation.  A good portion of their home has been gutted and is being restructured to fit new needs.  In this picture, cement has been recently poured and workers are waiting for it to dry before they can continue to install an elevator.  Meanwhile, my friends are living in the other side of their house along with furniture and belongings that once lived in the area under renovation.  It’s crowded, dusty, noisy and necessary.

I wonder if the neighbors are irritated by the inconvenient construction?  They too are experiencing the extra noise, dust and traffic on their street.   I am convinced that these neighbors have no idea how much chaos my friends are dealing with.  The renovation work on my friends’ house is required for their health. If neighbors knew the whole story, they would have more compassion and patience with the work being done on their street.

All of us are under construction as well.  Some of us have more work being done than others.  Perhaps you are experiencing needed and stressful changes. Maybe you aren’t personally going through much right now but your friend, spouse, child or neighbor is.  Are you getting irritable with the outside impact of their inner renovations? If what they are going through disturbs you externally, imagine the chaos they’re encountering internally.

“And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.”
Philippians 1:6 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

God will not quit working on all of us until we are perfect.  Sometimes people deal with our chaos and sometimes we deal with theirs.  It’s time to have compassion when lives are messy and jump in to help when we can.  The finished work will be magnificent.

Follow this link for a Chris Rice Youtube video of his song, Pardon My Dust, which compliments this blog.

Text and Picture Copyright Richelle Hecker