I can’t count the number of times I stood in the rubble of my half-finished renovation, discouraged at what my latest gut-job was revealing. It had always been a dream of mine to remodel an old house. Now I had that opportunity. I was remodeling a house built around 1790; it was a project that would last eight years. 

In one of the early phases of that remodel we began removing the sagging lathe and plaster on the walls and low ceiling, just inside our front door. My goal was to spruce things up a bit, but as we uncovered the studs we found termite damage, proof of “innovative building practices” and a lot of mouse skeletons. We also found evidence that the main staircase had been moved, and that part of the second story had been reconfigured in a way that made a portion of the upstairs space unusable. 

It was discouraging. I felt like I might be biting off more than I could chew. At times I regretted tackling the project. Everything seemed to turn out to be more complicated or difficult than expected. The bones of the house were petrified, the electrical system antiquated, and the heating and air conditioning insufficient. The house had been used for many purposes and reconfigured many times. It didn’t flow like we needed it to flow, and our budget was limited. Since I had purchased the house as a result of following God to a new assignment, I even questioned whether I had made the right choice. I reasoned that if I was following God, He would be helping me out a little more than He seemed to be helping.

But we pushed forward. We “made do.” We were forced to become more creative and resourceful. We prayed a lot. We worked long hours. We problem-solved and self-talked ourselves into believing for better days. Then, little by little, we made progress. Things actually began working out better than expected.

For example, we decided to remove part of the second floor near the front door and relocate the stairs to their original place. That combination allowed us to create a grand entry and a balcony at the top of the stairs. We were also able to expose the original, hand-hewn, peg-secured, beams. The end result was stunning compared to the original. We ended up with something much nicer than we had set out to create. 

So, we began with a plan… that turned into a bigger problem that we expected… which caused us to seek creative solutions… which resulted in a something better than we had planned. It was an opportunity hidden in difficulty. If we had not persevered when we encountered problems, we would have never enjoyed the better home. People of faith persevere, believing that God will help them work through their difficulties. And they believe that often the end result will be even better than they imagined.