C.S. Lewis; From Cottage to Palace

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace."

                           ~ C.S. Lewis

I just love this quote! It puts things into perspective for me. As I have gone through much physical and emotional pain over the past three years, I have questioned God.  I have cried in my heart,"What on earth is He up to?" I have realized that God is building me. God knows that I can be grand! But He also wants me to be useful as he is building me into something grand. So He has to build me one step at a time. If he were to demolish the little cottage all at once, then I would not be useful. He takes out one wall at a time. Adds one room at a time. It is a painful process at times, but God will replace whatever he knocks down with something better! He will add towers, and ballrooms, and huge magnificent gardens.