"And in Him you too are being build together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit." (Ephesians 2:22 NIV)
My workplace is a mess right now. The offices have been dislocated since January; every department is condensed into four mobile homes shoved together to form a makeshift ‘showroom’. We all bustle about in a few thousand square feet of desks and printers and tables and chairs. It is utter chaos.
Next door, the permanent structure isn’t much better. On any given day, HVAC ducts hang from the ceiling, wires run to and fro, the windows have yet to be installed and the whole place is full of construction debris. Of course, we track the dirt endlessly and go home at the end of the day blasted by sun and dust. By all measure, it look like an utter disaster. It’s tough to remember that It will be a multi-million dollar facility when the work is though, but that’s what management keeps telling us.
Today’s text in Ephesians brings the mess of our interior life to the forefront. Rob and I have done many home improvement projects over the years; construction always comes with chaos. It gets far worse before it finally comes together, every time.
If we are bing built together to become a dwelling place for God; it has to be a major overhaul of our souls. He shouldn’t be expected to live in the squaller where He first found us. He’s remaking us into a space fit for His glory. And like my workplace – that’s quite an involved process.
We must trust the promise of what is to come is worth the upheaval of today. God deserves a designated space, a tabernacle worthy of His splendor. The long term value of becoming is worth the discinfort of the process.
"And I heard a loud voice from the throne room saying "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people and He will dwell with them, they will be His people and God Himself will be their God." (Revelation 21:3 NIV)
Lord, forgive us for our impatience with chaos. How quickly we forget what You are forming. Today we surrender to the discomfort of construction, convinced that the end is worth the means. Make us a tabernacle suitable for Your glory. Amen.