Broken Things

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself."

—  C. S. Lewis (Mere Christianity) 

  He loves too much to leave you as you are. At times you wish you didn't have to endure renovation. You wish your heart didn't have to ache, you wish you wouldn't experience these moments where your little house comes crashing down in shambles and you're left vulnerable, cold and broken. 

   "For she said, 'I will go after my lovers...'" (Hosea 1:5)

  Then you realize, if you were given your freedom, you would never become a palace. You're like the Israelites in the Old Testament. You're like Hosea's wife. You stray away from God. You construct a house of your own choosing, finding something (or someone) else to be your lover.

    "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her" (2:14).

  God brings you into the wilderness. There is no way you can provide for myself, you are in an utter wasteland. Finally, as your house is breaking, you remember Him. Regardless of the pain, your broken house fills you with hope. He loves you enough to allure you, to pursue you. He wants you to return to Him. YOU! No more worthy than the whore, it's in the wilderness you realize how unstable your house was in the first place, that everything you believed about yourself was tainted. How much you desperately need God, and how fiercely He loves you. 

   "Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up" (6:1). 

    He is able. Trust Him.