The boards creek as you place your feet on the weary steps. Your eyes begin to survey all of the damage. The paint peels, the roofs leaks and buckles from years of neglect. You try to summon up strength from within to walk back inside. You are drawn to a sign placed on the front window, CONDEMNED. Cobwebs attack as you walk through the door. Your hand rises to cover your nose and keep the dust from invading your lungs. A light cough escapes your lips as tears silently spill in a long stream down your face.
You once took pride in showing your home to others. Now you only mention how it used to look. “The governor’s mansion” is how a person once described your home. Your mind goes back to when you first walked through that door and fell in love. You had to have that house. It was perfect! You could barely sleep that first night from the excitement. Bare feet traveling across the polished wood of the deck with your hands encircling a cup of coffee was how you spent your first morning. As you admired the rose bushes and trees, some of your favorite sounds came from the nearby creek that gurgled as the water rushed over the rocks. Every spring and summer morning, you woke up to the sound of birds chirping and the peck of the woodpecker chipping holes in the old tree in the back yard. It was glorious.
The dilapidation of the house matches the one of your soul. You no longer find fulfillment within yourself. The freshness and newness you once felt when you began your walk with God is now lost. He is waiting for you to return to Him so He can refresh you. Just as that house that was neglected began to bear it marks, so does your soul begin to bear the marks of neglect. Hosea 6:1-3 says Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. God is ready to revive you and build you back up!
God has given you the tools you need to rebuild your house. How beautiful is a house that is taken from its broken down state and restored to an even better product! It retains it old charm, but it’s full of brand new features. God wants to do this for you. Return to the Lord, tear down that condemned sign and ask Him to rebuild your house. That love for your “spiritual home” will be recaptured again.
Be Blessed,
Mother Vivian Valdez Pruitte