The room I recently appropriated as my writing room and office has been untouched for nearly fifty years.
As I write I am surrounded by dingy walls where wallpaper has let go to reveal water-stains and cracked plaster. The once white ceiling has faded to gray. The hardwood floor, well over a hundred years old, is worn and paint-splattered. The room is crowded with furniture that I didn’t choose and don’t like.
Some of you are cringing at this description. And truthfully, this view of the room is pretty dismal.
But this is not the complete picture.
As I write I face three windows. One is shaded by a spirea bush, its rich green leaves whispering with the slightest breeze. Another takes in the view of a colorful flower bed, gently rolling hay fields and a distant barn nestled against a stand of mature trees. The third window looks out on the white-painted front porch with its Victorian ornamentation and flower boxes.
The view from this room is beautiful, and is full of life and vitality. And while I certainly enjoy the view, my perspective is framed (and limited) by the room’s unattractive interior walls.
My Own Unattractive Walls
My office walls remind me of the walls I encounter all too often within my heart and mind. I am blessed with countless “external” blessings: family, friends, abilities, opportunities and much more. But my enjoyment of these blessings is often dimmed by the condition of my internal walls; walls that are grimy with lust, envy, and jealousy. Walls that are cracked and brittle with anger and unforgiveness. Walls that are discolored with unwelcoming hues of pride.
Left alone inside these walls, I’d be helpless! As the Apostle Paul writes:
“Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord…” (Romans 7:24, 25 NLT)
I can’t tear down the broken walls of my heart on my own. And God doesn’t expect me to. Through Jesus, he forgives me for the sins that built those walls in the first place. He removes and restores those walls through the help and encouragement I find in my relationship with himself, and with others.
“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results.” (James 4:17 NLT)
As I choose to accept God’s help, and as I build honest relationships with those he has given me as family, my heart continues to be restored. And as my heart heals, my ability to enjoy the blessings around me increases. The view from within is improving!
(And since some friends have offered to help me fix up my office walls, I think the view from inside these walls is about to get better also!) ,
What are some ways you are seeing God help you improve your own “view from within”?
Once again your words have touched my heart. Thank you for opening your heart. I know it’s not easy to do.
Thank you Jenny, for your encouragement. Opening our hearts through writing may not be easy, as you say, but it is freeing! 🙂