Do you ever find yourself caught up in one of those Facebook reels that is fascinating but totally irrelevant to your life? Yeah, me too. Here lately, I have been captivated by the videos produced by LADB Restoration. In each video, they find an object that is old. I don’t mean old like your living room sofa that you purchased five years ago. I mean old, old, like your great-grandfather’s meat grinder that’s been stored in the barn for the past thirty years or that rusty metal iron you picked up at an antique store because you thought it made a cool bookend. In about ten minutes (video-time), these reclamation professionals scrape away years of grime and transform those ancient objects into bright, shiny, tools that are ready to be useful again.
Now, here’s the thing that really intrigues me. If I was doing this, I know what I’d do. I’d dip those rust-covered hedge shears in whatever magic solution I had and watch it work. Then, I might use my grinder, sander thing-a-ma-jig and buff those blades until they shined. I might squirt oil around the hinge so that they opened and closed a little easier, and I’d probably sharpen the blades. And, low and behold, there you’d have it, a garden tool that was practically worthless ready to clip bushes and branches once more.
But, that’s not how LADB does it at all.
Whether it’s an antique toy truck or an ancient suppository making machine, these restorers start with one basic premise. They take the entire thing apart. I’m talking every tiny piece, every screw or nail, every washer and bolt, every spring, hinge, wire or string. The big pieces, the small pieces, the important pieces and the unimportant pieces are separated. Then each of these pieces is given sufficient attention to bring it back to its original state. Rust is removed. Holes are filled. Pits are sanded. If something is beyond the point of repair, then with careful precision, the professionals recreate the piece down to the smallest detail. When each individual piece has been cleaned, buffed, polished, painted, oiled, etc., then they put it all back together. I am confident that the process takes a lot longer than the 10-minutes I see in the video.
Last week, as I watched the restoration of an antique bread cutter, I was reminded that this is a good example of the difference between me and God. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
I read that verse and think that God is going to make me new in the same way I would make something new. I think he’ll pick me up, dust me off, give me a little spit shine and send me on my way. But that’s not the way LADB restores antiques, and it’s not God’s idea of restoration either.
Unfortunately, God doesn’t have much to work with. Unlike tools that were once bright and shiny, I was born into sin. My entire life has been corrupted by the oxidation process that wreaks havoc on my soul. That’s OK, because God is the original designer, and he alone knows what I was meant to be. But, here’s the thing, God isn’t going to do a superficial job. As my mama always said, “The devil’s in the details.” There’s more truth to that than you might think. It's the reason that God has to take me apart before he can put me back together.
When I surrendered my life to him, God started the process of renewing me from the inside out. He’s removing all the sinful, broken pieces. He’s scrubbing away those old desires. He’s filing, sanding, pounding, and blasting away the marks, dips, and imperfections caused by my old self. This process is not pleasant. In fact, it is often painful. The end result, however, will be oh so worth it. How do I know? Well, just watch one of the LADB videos, and I think you will understand. When they are finished, the products don’t just look good, they shine! Their parts aren’t just functional; they work well.
Hebrews 12:11 says, “No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.” My restoration will take a lifetime, but I am confident that the more work God does on me, the better my heart will be and the more useful I will be for the kingdom.
You know what? Maybe those Facebook videos aren’t so irrelevant after all.
Tricia K. Brown is the author of three books:
Seen, Heard, Beloved—the fictional tale of Samantha Gregory a woman struggling with her faith in the midst of grief and mental illness.
My Story—includes Tricia’s testimony and the blogs she wrote in the year after her son’s death.
A Year of Yearning—a 12-month book of devotionals for women
