A good friend died recently. He was an architect. He helped my wife and I design a new home at one time in our lives. He was good at what he did, drawing up plans and attending town meetings to get them approved. He considered alternative ideas and was willing to change his blueprints according to our wishes. Bob was kind, sensitive, and hardworking. And he accommodated us at every turn.

Bob reminds me of God. God is like an architect creating for us a life, a blueprint, if you will. And here’s the thing. That blueprint changes from time to time because our architect is relational, kind, loving, and can change to meet our needs. 

No, God isn’t our errand boy or girl. But here’s what God wants for our lives- to flourish, to live abundantly, and to live eternally. God is not pleased with the suffering of his people. He doesn’t want his project broken down or destroyed; but sometimes when bad things happen, God goes out of his way to change plans for us. In Romans 8 Paul writes that God is working in our lives to bring the best out of bad situations and circumstances, some of which we ourselves create. God has a big eraser called “forgiveness”  that he can use to remedy the mistakes we have made.

C.S. Lewis liked to use the house analogy to illustrate how some of the plans and improvements are not always to our liking because God is making a house in which he can live and through which God can love the rest of the world. That house, our home, will be a light for the dark places of the world. 

My friend Bob wanted a nice place for us. He knew what we could afford and how to make our house a home. But we never did build that house. See, God sometimes has other plans for us. And even if what we did wasn’t according to the original blueprint, God has, in his loving way, accommodated and led us within his will to a place where his love dwells richly.

And Bob? Well, The GREAT ARCHITECT has made a new home for Bob. You can read about it in 2 Corinthians 5, here in the Message Version. 

 1-5 ‘For instance, we know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven—God-made, not handmade—and we’ll never have to relocate our “tents” again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move—and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what’s coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we’re tired of it! We’ve been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what’s ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle for less.’