Isaiah 54:11-12 NLT - "O storm-battered city, troubled and desolate! I will rebuild you on a foundation of sapphires and make the walls of your houses from precious jewels. I will make your towers of sparkling rubies and your gates and walls of shining gems.
My first pastorate was a huge learning curve for me in regards to all types of situations and circumstances of life. Every day was filled with new lessons about people, life and God. One of my first lessons was about God's ability to restore something out of nothing. It would be a lesson that has lived on in my heart for all these years. The church was small – around 30 people. It had a building but no pastor had ever worked at the church full time. My wife and I decided that we we're going to step out in faith and give the church 100%. We had a little apartment and we made approximately $60.00 a week (if they had it). I found a room at the church that was used for storage and decided to use it for an office. There was no desk or chair so I began the journey of looking for inexpensive furniture. One of the men in my church let me know that he had an older desk at his house. What he didn't tell me became the lesson that God wanted me to learn. As I went to his house to pick up the desk – he had me follow him to a storage area about 100 feet from the house in the wooded area surrounding his house. We walked into a chicken pen (that still had chickens) and took me over to the corner where a desk was sitting – and a few chickens we're on top of it also. It was completely covered with chicken poop – 2-3 inches thick! He looked at me and said – “with a little clean up – this should be a great desk.” I didn't see what he was seeing. With no options in front of me I took the desk and with the help of a friend began to clean it up and refinish it. As we cleared off the chicken poop and then the two or three layers of paint – we found the most beautiful oak that you can imagine. We sanded it down and put an new coat of stain and varnish on the desk. It turned out to be one of the most beautiful desks that I have ever seen. I have often thought about that desk in regards to dealing with people and their broken and torn down lives. People come to me in the most horrible messes you can imagine. My eyes tell me that there is not a lot of hope but my spirit always reminds me about that desk and how bad off it was. You might feel like you've been abandoned by God or you might feel like there is no hope today. The reality is this – God is a God who restores and cleans up our messes. He takes the most terrible things and can turn them into good. He can restore and bring you back to a place that is better then you've ever experienced. God loves you so much today!
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