One of the comments we have heard from people when we share our disappointment with not getting the house we wanted is, "Oh, I'm sure there is something bettter out there."  or "I'm sure God has something better in mind."

 

Well, we did put an offer on another house last Saturday and the offer was accepted on Monday at $12,000 below the asking price, the latter of which, of course, we were glad for.  The house, while it has some features that are better than the other house (like a very quiet location and a beautiful back yard), it is definitely not better than the one we wanted, and there is no way either of us can imagine it being better.  We like the general layout but it will take some remodeling (like a new kitchen, making the bathroom handicap accessible, etc.) to get it more the way we would like it.  We cannot imagine this house ever being better than the other one, and I don't think it's because we lack imagination.  Well, maybe when we are old and decrepit it will seem like a wonderful privilege to walk ten less steps to the bedroom, and we will be so grateful we have this house!

 

Last evening at our small group where we were discussing this, I wondered, "Does an alternative to getting the house we wanted really need to be 'better'?"  What in the world do we mean by "better" anyway?  More naturally desireable? More comfortable? Easier?  Does it really need to seem, sometime along the way, that this place is better than the other one in order for the "promise" that things work together for good to be true?  I'm leaving the "to those who love God" off because as far as I am able to tell, Velma and I both love God.  I don't think us losing the house we wanted has anything to do with our love for God.

 

Now, I like what I believe the NIV translation of this verse more clearly implies.  "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him . . ."  Oh, it is in everything that happens that God is working for our good, if we aren't considering ourselves and what we naturally want the center of the universe and are letting the Center be Someone Else - who is Bigger than us, Better than us, and Gooder than us.

 

So it may be that what we end up with as a house is worse than what we wanted.  But, depending on how we deal with all this, we either become better people, or worse.  Maybe it's about what kind of house God is really building.  I am that house.  Velma is that house.  You are that house.  What kind of good stuff is being worked at on the inside as we use this process in our journey?  How do we use our real, natural, legitimate disappointments to allow God to work His good in us?  I think we all have some idea of what really matters.  But for me there is a gap between what I know matters and how I live.

 

Now, of course at some level all this concern about a house is absolutely ridiculous.  "Foxes have holes, birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."  Why should it be any better than that for us?  Are we really entitled to something more than enough food to eat and shelter?

 

I have a hunch there is something about gratefulness that is to be learned through this.  Maybe I'll let you know along the way if that hunch has any connection with reality!