The Demolition Man

We're finally doing it. We're going to make the upstairs bathroom as nice as the rest of the house.
We hired our man: a tall, brawny contractor with years of experience in building lovely kitchens and bathrooms.
In my mind I see the finished product: new contemporary-looking shower tiles with a decorative strip of contrasting tile traveling about two thirds up the wall. New granite countertop with a tile backsplash. Lovely wainscoting to set off the new tile and counter top. Brand new fixtures.
I can hardly wait to see the new bathroom.
Tim arrives on Tuesday. I'm surprised --and I tell him so -- that he doesn't have too many tools with him. He laughs goodnaturedly.
Because he knows all about these kinds of jobs.
And I don't. I only see the finished product in my mind.
Tim envisions the entire process, leading up to the glorious end.
That first day I've never heard so much, banging and booming, clanging, rattling, crunching. The dust flies, clings to everything, filters through the house, gets tramped all over my nice wide-plank wood floors. Tim's assistant runs down the stairs carrying box after box of bathroom debris outside.
At the end of the day, my little bathroom looks desolate. It is totally non-functional.
But the next day, the wainscoting is up, a new shower pan and new plumbing has been installed. Still not functional, but looks promising.
It scares me to see the bathroom empty. But Tim knows exactly what he's doing. I trust him.
I know that, in a week's time, I will have my bathroom back, and in much better condition.

There's a Master Carpenter working on me, as well. Sometimes, as he demolishes old attitudes, habits, fears, strongholds, I feel left without a safe sin to get me through the day. But I trust Him. I've seen some of His other projects and I feel confident that He'll be able to complete the job on me. And it'll be worth the mess, the devastation, the disfunction.
I'll have me back, much better than before.

"Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain." Psalm 127:1