Along the Way

God’s Housekeeping in Our Lives

My soul mate came home to me last week. For the past five months she’s been on an important long trek across our country. While she was away I moved our entire household to a new location in Melfort. This was an enormous task, nevertheless, it was accomplished with a sense of personal satisfaction. I had considered myself a fairly competent homemaker . . . until my wife came home. From my perspective I had arranged our home in a very functional manner. Everything necessary for existence was within reach from the kitchen table where I worked: telephone, paper shredder, laptop computer, filing cabinet, stereo system, refrigerator, cereal boxes, bowls, spoons, waste bucket. I had the walls decorated with maps of Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. There was no bed to make since I slept on the sofa. Housekeeping was limited to washing clothes and dishes once a week. Everything was arranged for my personal convenience and satisfaction. It seemed like the perfect home, until my life partner moved back in.

This transition was not without problems. I had become confident in my way of keeping house and when it was suggested that there might be a better way, I responded in a rather defensive manner. The struggle continued until I remembered who was moving back in with me: my lover. This woman was not my critic, but the one who delights in sharing life with me. Above everyone else in this world, she loves me no matter how I behave or appear. She had just walked over 3000 kilometers to be with me. Moreover, this woman has proved herself to be an excellent homemaker over the past thirty years we have shared life together. This perspective makes all the difference in the world in the relinquishing of my personal rights in order to make our beautiful home. I would be a fool to resist any change she initiates.

That which I have experienced in relationship with my wife is what God desires for all of us. The Apostle Paul expresses this reality in a prayer: “I pray . . . that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” (Ephesians 3:17). The Creator of the universe desires to move into our lives to take up permanent residence in order to bring forgiveness, healing and eternal life. And who is this God who is initiating this renovation in our lives. He is the Lover of our soul. The Apostle Paul continues to pray that “you may be rooted and established in love, . . . to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” And then he concludes by reminding us of the goal of experiencing God’s love: “You may be filled to all the measure of the fullness of God.” Every relationship involves some kind of risk. Trust is indispensable when we open ourselves up to the initiatives of another. God invites us to trust him by surrendering every area of our lives to His work of love. Trust and love are inseparable. I invite you to trust in Jesus Christ, the Lover of your soul and the Keeper of your life.