Everyone loves a good story. This one is about second chances. It’s a story of restoration that begins in an unlikely place nestled in a small town in North Carolina.
When a young couple went searching to buy their first home, they stumbled upon a little red farmhouse. On the front of the property was a very very old barn that had collapsed the prior winter under a heavy weight of snow. The barn was in bad shape, as they pulled up they paused and saw something rare. They saw hidden potential.
The couple purchased the property and with family and friends, began the process of restoring the barn. What they didn’t know they would find were the many life lessons hidden there. They had no idea of the important lessons that the renovation process would soon reveal. As the project unfolded, antique toys and forgotten treasures were uncovered. A knobby tree that still grows in and through the walls sings a mysterious song testifying to the life once found there and the new life emerging.
Yet, inside the creeks, between the cracks, and deep inside the crevices hidden beauty was unveiled from the ashes. With every board and plank removed, and every new one replaced that broken down barn became a picture of redemption, a symbol of hope to those that had long lost hope. Could one of the messages this old barn whisper is that maybe there’s hope for other kinds of brokenness too, even mine
Restoration is hard work. It is an arduous task, but tending to broken things always is. With time and TLC, beauty emerged. It was waiting for someone to see it and reveal it.
Practically speaking, they were asked, why renovate this place? Maybe, like an ole time barn raising, it is meant to create an atmosphere of community and connecting. Maybe it is teaching us the value in seeing beyond what is obvious to what possibly could be?
Beloved, God sees. He is our El Roi and absolutely nothing gets by Him. He will never just drive by. With a keen eye and a steady hand, our Carpenter-King can restore the broken. He can rebuild a dream and recharge the soul and again make bountiful the dross of this world.
Much like this old barn, He sees great potential in you. He is actively working on your behalf. He boldly declares, I will make all things beautiful in its time. I have loved you with an everlasting love and if you trust me, Ill do a brand new thing. (Ecc. 3,Isaiah 43, Joel 2:22) He the God of first, second and third chances, Jesus Christ, our redeemer and restorer.
Maybe one day you can stop by and sit a spell. Come see the new thing God is doing.