Eviction Notice

Living in the land of owning a rental property presents many interesting, notable moments...especially since our rental property also happens to be the home in which we live...having two apartments that we lease.

Recently, we had to serve an eviction notice to our upstairs tenant...not without MANY gracious warnings leading up to this point as he was continually breaking the lease agreement in one way or another.

All day long, as I've dealt with 3 situations just today involving the tenant, I've been thinking about the process of an eviction notice...

You see...  When Andrew & I come to the place of serving an eviction to someone it takes a lot to get us to that point... grace extended....grace extended....grace extended...boom... NO MORE GRACE.

Once the notice has finally been served, however, we've been pushed to our limits. Enough is enough! We won't take it anymore.

...So, then I begin to think, "man, isn't this just the way we are with sin...addictions...temptations...complacency...apathy"

We live with it. Accept it. Tolerate it. Convince ourselves it's really not a "big" deal...we can handle it...

We treat the grace of God like it is cheap... And somehow forget that while He is gracious... He is also just, full of mercy, & jealous for our affection.

 Then one day we come to the place that we're just sick of the deceit, the lies, the hidden life... And we decide it's time to serve the devil & the strongholds he has on our lives an eviction notice.

But here's the thing... An eviction notice isn't instant. There is a process involved. Don't get me wrong, I'm not implying that God can't deliver you in a moment... It's just that though He may and is very able to do so, there is still a process in dealing with the consequences of the life that you chose to live, the decisions that you made....

All the while, God is working....healing....recreating....restoring... He is faithful like that. Even through the messiness of an eviction notice... He is there. Making a way when there seems to be no way.

...So, here we are...a few more days left with the "non-stop fun" of tenant 3. I can't help but pray, "Dear Jesus, Give us wisdom & discernment with whomever will next rent from us. Let it be a person who can live at peace with others & will not have to be served an eviction notice."

Let it be so. That once the enemy of your soul has been served notice...that you let it stand & don't ever look back, go back, or return to that old, stinking, rottting life style. Live in the freedom that is yours as a child of the King.

Hunger

How often throughout the day does your hunger drive you to stop everything you are doing & grab something to eat? Or how about those moments that you are so ravenously hungry that you can't even concentrate on what you're supposed to be doing or the conversation you are having because you think your stomach is going to start eating itself any moment?!?

What if our hunger for God was that way? What if our hunger for the Word was that way? What if our hunger to worship God in spirit & in truth was that way? What if our hunger to reach the lost was that way?

...It would change everything.
A generation.
Our todays.
Our tomorrows.
Our relationships.
The Church.
Society.
The World.

I don't know... I just don't think we are hungry enough.

Maybe we allow other things to "choke out" our appetite for the One who really matters.
Maybe we've cheated ourselves with the "processed" for so long that we don't desire the "Real" anymore.

All I know is.... I've seen the face of true hunger... I've heard the SOUND of real hunger.... It hasn't been for some time...

True hunger will drive you to do things you otherwise would not do....

So "what if" we were truly hungry?

I don't know....

I just think it would change everything.