Red and blue and orange and green and everything in between covered my arms, fingernails, feet, skirt, hair, face, legs, and pretty much every part of me. This was not for a few fleeting moments or hours, but rather every hour of every day this week.
My team and I have been given the wonderful opportunity to paint the walls of new apartments into which some of the precious orphan girls will be moving. And, as a result, I am usually covered in paint.
And I have been reminded that as I am covered in paint, I am even more importantly covered by the blood of the Lamb. I wish that my mind could comprehend just how glorious that truth is. I'll never fully understand it, but I'm learning itty bitty tidbits and pieces each day.
The walls of the new apartments are, on their own, plain and boring and drab. They seem to have been hastily painted when the building was constructed, leaving nothing to be admired.
My heart, on its own, is not even simply plain and boring. It is dirty, messy, filthy. Leaving nothing to be admired and, in fact, everything to be scorned.
My teammates and I were told to take these walls and make them beautiful. We surveyed the apartments, got visions for murals we wanted on the walls, and purchased the colors we needed to make those visions a reality. We are seeing these walls come to life as we cover them in paint.
Jesus was told to take my heart and make it beautiful. He surveyed every part of me, planned out how He wanted His Spirit to manifest inside me, and purchased my life so He could make that plan a reality. He is seeing my heart come to life as He drenches it in love.
We are taking these walls and
covering them with pictures of trees and flowers and rainbows and sunshine and butterflies. They are stained with paint and beauty.
Jesus is taking my heart and cultivating joy and peace and love and every fruit that the Spirit produces. I am stained with His blood and love.
I am thrilled at the thought of the precious girls seeing the walls of their new rooms for the first time. It is incredible to know that my teammates and I have been able to take part in making this building go from boring to beautiful, turning it into a wonderful home for these children.
And I am thrilled that Jesus is using my life to put His goodness on display. He is painting every nook and cranny of my heart with His love, making it go from gaunt to glorious, turning it into a temple for His Spirit.
The skirt I've been painting in for days is covered in color. The heart Jesus has been working on for years is lavished in love. Hallelujah.
