My wife loves to watch HGTV and DIY, and one show that will cause me stop and watch for a bit is called Renovation Realities. In the show, people take on renovation projects that don’t turn out the way they had envisioned. Sometimes the people have an idea of how to go about things, but they’ve bitten off more than they can chew. Other times, you wonder if they had actually ever used tools before they decided to remodel their kitchen. It’s downright scary to see how unprepared the people are for what they are about to take on. I have to admit watching the show has helped me feel better about our own early home improvement projects. They turned out OK, but were craftsman work compared to watching people forget to measure before cutting holes in their countertops.
Most of the problems the people on the show run into come from not doing the research necessary to give them the knowledge needed to take on the task. The drama that unfolds between husband and wife as the renovation spirals out of control makes for good TV, but I have to say that it seems to be a fair split between husbands who grossly overestimate their handyman abilities and wives who are totally unrealistic in their wants or timeframes. It’s like watching a slow-motion train wreck. It’s painful but it’s hard to turn away.
Early on in our marriage my wife and I came to understand certain things about each other when home improvement projects were involved. For the sake of household harmony and marital bliss, we no longer do wallpaper together. Our first foray into hanging wallpaper went wrong, and tensions flared. I was fired from my paper hanging position. In all honesty, I was more relieved than disappointed. I came to think that doing wallpaper was a form of torture that should be regulated by the Geneva Convention.
I thought wallpaper should be easy enough to put up. Paste on the wall, paper on the roll. Roll paper onto wall, life is good. Then my wife threw me a curve. She bought wallpaper with a pattern. Now I was expected to match the pattern between each strip of paper that we put up. Unfortunately for me, I did not become aware of this critical piece of information until I had put up several rows of paper. Needless to say my wife was not happy. My handiwork would have to be taken down and thrown out. She would have to go buy more wallpaper. Her project would not get done before the weekend was over.
It was the first job I was ever fired from. No exit interview, no severance, and no positive job reference.
I knew the job that was at hand and got right to it. My problem was that I hadn’t taken the time to find out what all was involved and have a plan on how to do the task correctly. I hadn’t looked into the requirements for the wallpaper job. I had assumed I knew everything that was needed. Remember? Paste on wall. Oops! I was already wrong. I was informed we used “sizing”. I didn’t even have the vocabulary down, not to mention pattern matching, bubble removal, etc. I had some knowledge to acquire and some personal growth to achieve before I was ready to do wallpaper right.
Believe it or not, I did learn from my wallpaper fiasco. I learned my lesson, and became a successful project manager – which is all about the requirements. On many projects I’ve worked, the regular person looks and sees where you started and the finished product. They don’t understand all of the questions that were asked, the answers that were found, and the design work that was put in just to get to the point where the nuts and bolts of the project could be put into motion. Yet it’s the time spent on those details that are the difference between a project that has long term success and one that falters in a short period of time. Big splashes have ripples that dissipate over time, but an object that keeps a steady motion continues to make waves for a long time.
When it comes to God and how He goes about things, it’s important that we don’t make the same mistake I did with that wallpaper.
Paste on wall, paper on wall. Go to church, say a prayer.
Roll paper onto wall, life is good. Live morally, life is good.
Just like that wallpaper, it isn’t that simple. There are details involved that have to be taken into consideration and followed. Instructions to look into, patterns to follow, application to be made. Just as with that job and my wife, there are things that are required in order to do what we have been asked to do in a way that is acceptable to God. I know it’s not a popular thing to say, but it is true. So you have to ask yourself – Am I willing to look into the details so that I go about this correctly?
My wife’s love for me didn’t change over the Great Wallpaper Fiasco, and God’s love for you hasn’t either over whatever your latest fiasco might be. Unlike my wife firing me – God won’t fire you because you didn’t go about something in the way He desires you to. What He does expect is that you will approach things next time with a desire to learn what is required so that you can handle things rightly.
David wrote of this in Psalm 40:6-8
You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings.
Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand
you don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings.
7 Then I said, “Look, I have come.
As is written about me in the Scriptures:
8 I take joy in doing your will, my God,
for your instructions are written on my heart.”
David had come to understand that God was looking for something deeper than just keeping with the prescribed sacrifices and offerings at the temple. He recognized that God wanted him to delight in doing His will, and that he would take God’s instructions to himself in a way that they became a part of who he was and what he did. David said “I take joy in doing Your will.” Other translations render it “I delight to do Your will.” The details or requirements – God’s instructions – were something that David took to heart and conduct himself in a way that were pleasing to God. He enjoyed it!
David made mistakes in his life – but God never fired him. Keep in mind that God did fire King Saul.
1 Samuel 15:22-23:
22 So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.”
The difference between the two is that David was quick to ask forgiveness from God when he began to get off course. He paid attention to the requirements God gave him and obeyed them. You can read 1 Samuel 15 to see where Saul did what he thought was best and then made excuses for his decisions. He didn’t follow God’s requirements, and he missed out on the blessed life God had desired for him. David was diligent to follow after God’s will, and he lived the blessed life God had for him.
As you go about your day, ask yourself – “Have I been going on what I think is best according to me, or have I looked to see what God says He would like me to be?” If you have been approaching life like I was that day, slapping up wallpaper according to what I thought was right – take the time to make the correction and look to God for the details. If you do, you can live the blessed life that God desires for you.
