When I was a child, my mother loved to rearrange the furniture in our house. She’d see something in a magazine and decide we needed a fresh look. We actually went through several “living room sets” in my twenty year stint at home. Even if she wasn’t buying new stuff, she was rearranging the older stuff. Sometimes I loved the changes. Other times not so much. My favorite spot on the sofa would sometimes not be exactly where I liked to view the TV from. It took some getting used to but eventually it would become the “normal”. Bottom line is this – it was her house, she could put the furniture wherever she wanted. She obviously had a vision and plan for it, so she made it happen. 

“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” ‭‭(1 Corinthians‬ ‭6‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ ‭NLT‬‬) Ahh! We don’t belong to ourselves. If you’ve stepped over that line of faith and made Jesus your Lord, you are not your own. This definitely helps make sense of why my desires sometimes get shut down and God allows something else. He’s moving things around in our hearts to please Him! We’re His house and He has every right to arrange things to His liking. Yes, sometimes the changes are not comfortable for us. We liked the “old way”. But His ways are better for us and He wants to take care of us as His children. We, as humans, often fight change. Good enough is fine. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. God sees brokenness that we can’t see. He loves us too much to not rearrange some things. “So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” ‭‭(2 Corinthians‬ ‭3‬:‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬)

Being able to “see and reflect” His glory is the most important thing we can do for other people. You see, we’re His representation on the earth. We need to see things the way He sees them. We need to listen to people as though they really matter (which they do). We need to love with real love like Jesus does. The world has had enough fake. They need real. People are looking for someone to roll up their sleeves and get in the trenches with them. The only way we can be those people is to allow the Lord to rearrange our agenda for His. He wants to replace selfish ambition for selfless care and commitment to others. He wants to get rid of our envy and cause us to want to celebrate our friends’ achievements. He wants His children to exchange our anxieties for His peace and show others the way to it. The list is never ending to what He wants to do in His children. There’s stuff in us that we probably don’t even realize exists. Be sure, He knows it’s there. It’s His house and He wants it the way He wants it. 

“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” (‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬) This is the wonderful part. He’s not asking you to do the heavy lifting. My mom was always telling me to grab the other end of the sofa! This is a different kind of rearranging. He’s taking the old you and making you into a new and improved you. He does the work and everyone who sees it will admire the beautiful transformation. So, don’t fight the change. It’s for your good and the good of others. God loves you just the way you are. But, because He loves you so much, He wants to do some rearranging.

Today’s writer is Brandi Crowe. A hairdresser for over 25 years, she is currently the owner of Brandi Crowe salon in Buford, GA. She loves hiking, a good cup of coffee, and spending time with family and friends. Brandi lives in a custom farmhouse with her husband Robby and cat Harold.