God’s Rebuilding You: And Fixer Uppers Are Kind of His Thing

Maybe your life feels like a renovation zone right now—messy, broken, and nowhere near finished. If you’ve ever wondered whether God’s rebuilding you or just letting everything fall apart, may this devotional remind you: He’s at work.

I’m a little obsessed with remodeling shows. I’ve loved them since Trading Spaces and This Old House dominated the landscape and I was just a teen with wispy bangs and a love for Justin Timberlake. My first major in college was actually interior design and I imagined myself renovating historic homes with love and authenticity. 

God shifted my heart into counseling and theology, but I still love good design and of course, home renovation shows. My current favorite show is Hometown with Ben and Erin. But I’ll watch pretty much any remodeling show if it’s on–even if it’s cringe or completely unrealistic–I love a renovation.

But here’s what I’ve learned from all those episodes: every renovation uncovers something broken. And our lives? They work similarly. 

Paul knew this. In 1 Corinthians 3:9 he says, “For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.”

If we’re God’s building project, then we’re all in some stage of renovation. The problems they find on these shows tend to fall into three categories—and I think our spiritual lives mirror them pretty closely.

You can find more encouragement at God is With You in the Sacred and the Suck

First you have the big things, like the hole in the roof or the floor that’s falling in. It’s incredibly noticeable and you know off right off the bat, this is going to have to be dealt with. 

The next two things are a bit more insidious. In the shows they involve a “shocking” revelation, desperate phone calls to the homeowner, and normally–more money than anyone wants to spend. 

Things like a crooked foundation. Where things are just “off” and even though it may not seem like a big deal, every year it gets worse and worse. 

Then there is my personal least favorite home renovation woe–infestations. Cockroaches, mice, termites–the things that make your skin crawl and are really hard to eradicate once and for all.

Here’s the thing about home renovation that always strikes me: ignoring the damage never makes it go away. That hole in the roof? It’ll only get bigger. The crooked foundation? It’ll shift further every year. The infestation? It spreads.

The same is true in our lives.

God’s Rebuilding You  

I don’t know what the damage looks like in your life right now. Maybe it’s obvious—like a hole in the roof that everyone can see. Maybe it’s subtle—a foundation that’s been slowly shifting for years. Or maybe it’s an infestation of small things: discouragement, anxiety, bitterness creeping into every corner.

Whatever it is, we can’t ignore our way to healing. We don’t magically fix our hearts, our attitudes, our traumas, or our sin patterns. Real restoration takes intention: Scripture, prayer, therapy (the real kind, not the “coffee and Target” kind), recovery groups, the support of your community. It takes what Eugene Peterson called “a long obedience in the same direction.”

This isn’t HGTV. Your healing won’t wrap up neatly in 30 minutes with a big reveal.

But here’s the good news: no job is too big for God.

But….whether it is a hole in the roof or a crooked foundation or an infestation–He can handle it. Your Savior is a carpenter. 

He’s good at fixing things.

God refuses to do surface-level work. The prophet Jeremiah warned against this kind of fake healing:

They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace. -Jeremiah 6:14

We can’t slap a Band-Aid over deep wounds and call it healing—and God won’t either. He won’t settle for less than a full restoration for you. He doesn’t do patch jobs. What looks like breaking down is actually a healing process, so you can be rebuilt for health and lasting impact. 

Our flaws don’t impact our worth in God’s eyes. Fixer uppers are kind of His thing. While restoration can be a long process, every repair intentionally brings wholeness and peace. You can surrender the broken places of your life to Jesus. Leave it in his nail-scarred hands, dear friend. He is a trustworthy carpenter.