Hunter Christner

If you caught my last article you know I just bought a house, and it’s a bit of a fixer-upper. I have more to share about how that has been going for me. Let me tell you, buying a house has a way of teaching you lessons you weren’t expecting. Shortly after closing on the house, I thought I had a fairly simple plumbing project ahead of me. During the inspection, I discovered some roots growing into the old clay sewer line near the curb. It didn’t seem like a major issue, and a simple cleanout looked like it would take care of it.

After looking a little closer, though, I found something I wasn’t expecting. The old cast-iron sewer pipe under the basement floor had rusted completely through the bottom. What I thought would be a relatively inexpensive repair suddenly became a complete sewer replacement. The project took about four more days than I planned and cost around seven times more than I expected. I’ll admit, I wasn’t thrilled.

As frustrating as the setback was, something interesting happened once everything was dug up. Two more problems were discovered that had been hidden underground for years. Part of the sewer line actually ran uphill before reaching the street, and it made a sharp 90-degree turn underneath the road before connecting to the city’s main line. Neither issue was obvious from the surface, but both would have caused major headaches down the road. Because we did the hard work of replacing the entire line, those hidden structural problems were corrected, too.

As I thought about that project, I couldn’t help but think about how much we are like that old sewer line. Most of us prefer surface-level fixes. We notice our temper, our impatience, our language, our anxiety, or a bad habit we’d like to quit, and we ask God to help us clean things up a little. We hope for something like that original sewer cleanout. A quick solution that gets life flowing again without disrupting everything else in our life.

Jesus loves us too much to settle for cosmetic repairs. He sees what’s underneath the floor. He knows the pride we hide behind success, the bitterness we carry, and the selfishness, fear and jealousy that no one else sees. While we often focus on the symptoms, Jesus lovingly exposes the deeper issues because he intends to heal them.

That process isn’t always comfortable. It can feel like an unexpected setback, and we may wonder why life suddenly became so difficult. Yet Jesus reminded his followers that building a life that stands the storms of life requires us to “dig deep and lay the foundation on the rock” (Luke 6:48). Deep foundational work is always disruptive, but it is the only way to expose and fix the unseen issues that shallow, surface work leaves behind. God is always after the deep renovation, not just behavior modification.

The good news is that Jesus doesn’t expose our brokenness to shame us; he exposes it to restore us. The gospel isn’t about becoming a slightly improved version of ourselves. Jesus lived the perfect life we never could, died for our sins, and rose again so that everyone who trusts in him can receive not only forgiveness, but a whole new heart. As Ezekiel 36:26 promises, “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.”

Looking back, I’m grateful we didn’t stop with a simple cleanout. What felt like an expensive inconvenience turned out to prevent a much bigger disaster later. I wonder how often God is doing the same thing in our lives. Maybe the setback you’re facing isn’t simply an interruption. Maybe God is exposing something deeper because he loves you too much to leave it hidden. He isn’t interested in covering what’s broken; he’s making you new from the inside out.

So, if God starts tearing up the floor in your life, don’t assume he’s making a mess. He may be preventing one. The Great Builder always knows what’s underneath, and he is faithful to restore what is broken into something that will last.

(Hunter Christner is associate staff at Campus Ventures in Powell.)