According to the Plan

 Recently, Glen, Ellie and I have been renovating our Laundry Room.   Glen was responsible for emptying the room of all the years of accumulated stuff, for tearing out the old home-made shelves, for all the heavy lifting and for graciously not complaining when we needed to make yet another trip to Lowe's. Ellie was in charge of morale and encouragement.  She has been right beside me all the way.

The only time she leaves the room is if I was using a saw or the air compressor.  Her sensitive beagle ears can't tolerate that noise in the small room in which I worked. Any other time, she was just lying there watching me, giving me either subtle approval or disapproval by her facial expression. (Okay, I might be imagining that last part.)  

We started the renovation with a plan laid out on paper.  Now that the room is almost completed, I am amazed at how almost perfectly it has turned out.  We made a few alterations to the plan along the way, but for the most part, it is just the way we designed.  I have to admit, it makes me so happy to look at it.  The room originally had never been finished, it was only bare studs and now to look at it a finished room gives me much pleasure.

It reminds me that the Bible refers to Christians as "His workmanship".

"For we are His workmanship, 
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, 
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." 
Ephesian 2:10

God is always working in His children.  He has a plan, a design, that was laid out before He spoke the worlds into existence. 

"And we know that all things work together for good 
to them that love God, 
to them who are the called according to His purpose. 
For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate 
to be conformed to the image of His Son..."  
Romans 8:28,29

He is constantly working in our lives to conform us to the image of His Son.  He "worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13.)

He will finish His work.  His finished product will match the design perfectly.  He will accomplish what He has set out to do because "...as for God, His way is perfect." (Psalms 18:30.) And He will be pleased with the result.  It will give Him joy to look at us and see the same attributes in us that are in His beloved Son.  

Let it bring great joy and comfort to our hearts to know He is ever working in our lives to bring us to the image of Christ.  Let it bring great hope to our hearts to know that forever we will be a source of joy and pleasure to our Heavenly Father.  Let it reassure us that He will finish the work of us.