Isaiah 66

If there was one thing my parents loved to do together, it was remodeling. When I was 10, we moved into the house my mom still lives in, and I don’t think there was one square inch of it that didn’t need remodeling. Consequently, there is now no square inch of the house that doesn’t have a remodeling “story” attached to it. No matter where I look, I will always see my mom and dad when I walk through the house and remember how, for much of my childhood, we could only watch Sunday morning cartoons if we were simultaneously using the heat gun to strip the paint off of old windows. (My mom says she doesn’t remember that part, ha ha.)

It had to have been these years of living in remodeling heaven that made me swear to my husband that when we bought our first house, it would not be a fixer-upper. I did not catch the remodeling bug as a kid, and I dreamed of moving into a house that was “ready to live in.” So we did. Only, I have since discovered that no matter how ready your house was to live in when you bought it, there are plenty of things that still need to be fixed up through the years. I guess there’s no way to completely escape the necessity of remodeling!

So, what caused me to take this little vacation down memory lane? The realization that God also delights in remodeling: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?’ declares the Lord. ‘These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.’” (vs 1-2)

I love this passage. There’s something so poetic about it. God begins by making us realize that He is so much bigger than we seem to remember. Heaven is His throne and earth His footstool. He can’t be contained or corralled. He has made everything and everyone—do we really think we can come up with a house, or “resting place,” that is worthy of His glory and grandeur?

And then, He continues right on and says, “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit.” That word contrite is very interesting. We most often associate it with humility. However, the original Hebrew word—nakeh—literally means “crippled” or “disabled.” It is a person who is broken, damaged, and in need of serious help. This is the very place where the Sovereign God wants to take up residence!

He doesn’t get excited about castles or mansions or temples. He doesn’t look for something described as “turn-key” when looking for a resting place. No, He looks for the dirtiest, nastiest, scummiest, filthiest place He can find and offers to move in and perform an extreme makeover—a total overhaul from top to bottom. In that sense, the “resting place” He wants is actually not a place where He will rest at all! He wants to roll up His sleeves and get His hands dirty. He wants to restore and improve every nook and cranny.

This is God’s specialty. He prefers the “handyman special.” When we are willing to open the door and let Him move in, there is nothing He can’t fix, nothing He can’t restore, nothing He can’t overhaul. So don’t be afraid to put yourself out there on the market. He has already paid a fortune for the chance to make His home in you!