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Sometimes It Gets Worse Before Getting Better

8/7/2012

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Have you discovered that on the road to improvement or change, it often gets worse before getting better? Anyone who has remodeled a room knows the initial messy phase when a wall is removed, a window opening is cut out, or anything having to do with sheetrock brings dust, debris and the room is worse than before.

Recently, our home was re-shingled. It rained while the old shingles were off and before the new shingles were installed. This morning, a worker is repairing sheetrock in a ceiling that got water damaged and right now the room is a mess.

If you are a motor head doing the car repairs yourself, sometimes you need to remove some good parts to get to the broken part. For a little while, the car looks and is in worse shape than when you began. Reseeding a yard, changing a flower bed, painting a room, cleaning a file cabinet or defrosting a freezer results in disarray before order and improvement occurs.

Knowing that the mess is leading to an improvement over the way things were helps you push through the dust and disorder. Improving relationships often carries the same process of things getting worse before they get better. When a relationship becomes broken it often requires tearing deeper and even moving some good parts to get to the broken part.

Friendships that become damaged because of broken trust can be repaired by appropriately confronting the issue. The trust may have been breached due to jealousy, carelessness or a habit of gossip. The relationship will get messier when addressing damage in the relationship as a result of the wrong behavior. It is easier to let the demolition of wrongs begin when you know it is necessary to lead towards improvement.

If you have done enough remodeling or repairing, experience has conditioned you to expect the unexpected. A wall gets removed during a remodeling and a live wire is discovered. Mishandling it can lead to an injury, but with proper handling the surprise can become useful in the remodel.

Resolving conflicts and mending broken relationships can expose some hidden live wires of emotions or sparks of past offenses. Careful handling can bring healing to the hurt and result in a healthier relationship because a hidden part of their personality and character is freed.

Knowing that remodeling, repairing or rearranging can make things worse before it gets better is an encouraging reminder that brings hope when resolving conflicts and repairing broken relationships.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

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    Mark Radeke

    Husband of one, father of five, pastor and friend of many.

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