As archeological sites are excavated and restored, the original ruins are marked to show what was intact upon discovery. These restoration lines look different from one location to another, sometimes bold and black, other times subtle and decorative. They weave up and down the remains of ancient structures, showing some sections surprisingly well-preserved while others lie almost completely leveled.
Our lives are much the same when we come to Christ and step into God’s Kingdom. Remains of attempts to build our own kingdoms lie in varying states of disrepair. Some areas tall and relatively strong, others low and crumbling. And if we’re honest, even some we wish never existed. Areas that strike chords of pain, guilt, and shame we wish could be lost to history.
I’ve heard that if we lived in a sinless world, we would never know the full character of God. His unconditional love, mercy, and grace would be foreign to us. While I’m not grateful for the fallen state of existence we face every day, I am constantly in awe of a magnificent God who wants to know me. Who wants to restore me.
Living in grace means the evidence of our past failures are no longer monuments to mistakes or disappointment. The old remains to show what wholeness looks like. To show God’s glory. To show that no matter how errant our choices or how bleak our circumstances have been, He’s a God who restores above and beyond what we can ask or imagine.