It's Just a House

Most of our friends and family know the trials we have had in trying to sell our house.  We have received so many encouraging words such as "God has a reason for your period of waiting" or "Your ideal next home just isn't ready yet".  Both friends and strangers have told us that our home is beautiful which helped me not take it so personally when it did not sell initially.  I am grateful for all the support and encouraging words we have received.  Now that we have just listed it on MLS again, I have struggled with the reality of the enormous financial loss we will incur if we sell it at the new market value.  One listing agent even recommended that we not even attempt to sell it anytime soon. 

A friend recently shared a link to this graphic on his blog.

 

Click on image source here to enlarge.

Note that home values reached their record peak in July of 2006 which is the exact same month we moved into this house.  Clearly, we are not the only people experiencing this house value frustration right now, and I'm so thankful that we do not owe enough on the house to put us at risk of becoming upside down on the mortgage as so many others are right now.

Yes, God has a reason for our waiting period, but the obvious reality is that housing values have fallen rapidly.  It's a great time to sell if you are looking to move up into a larger, more expensive home, but for people like us, the falling values can be disheartening, especially when our target location is not experiencing the degree of depreciation that is impacting our current residence.

So what should our response be in such uncertain times?    I do not believe that we should necessarily be asking "why?" or "when?".  Lamenting over our losses is probably not the best response either.  Instead, we should allow God to use this experience to draw us closer to Himself.

Seek the Lord

First and foremost, we must seek the Lord.   He bids us come to Him with our burdens and cares and cast them down.   We can only find true peace at His feet.

   ²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  (Matthew 11:28-30)

We must regularly ask Him for discernment, wisdom, and direction. 

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.  (James 1:5)

Accept the Situation and Trust Him

We must trust the Lord to guide us and direct our steps.

A person’s steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand their own way?  (Proverbs 20:24)

Realtors, mortgage lenders, home stagers, financial advisers, and economic analysts have their place and can be of immense service to us.  However, we ultimately must place our trust in the Lord.

Psalm 118:7-9 (New International Version, ©2011)

⁷ The LORD is with me; he is my helper.
   I look in triumph on my enemies.
 ⁸ It is better to take refuge in the LORD
   than to trust in humans.
⁹ It is better to take refuge in the LORD
   than to trust in princes.

We must not put our trust in home equity or bank accounts.  Instead, we do better by placing all of our trust in the One who owns it all.  Money is fleeting, but the Lord will sustain us forever.

Proverbs 23:4-6 (New International Version, ©2011)

 ⁴ Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
   do not trust your own cleverness.
⁵ Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone,
   for they will surely sprout wings
   and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

We must accept the current state of the economy.   It is all we can really expect in a fallen world.  If our investment portfolio collapses or our home equity disappears, we can remain strong if our trust is in the One who never changes. He who cannot break a promise has promised to meet our every need.

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

Renew Your Mind With Kingdom Perspective

Romans 12:2  instructs us to not be "conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

This world tells us that the home we have on earth is all there is, so buy the nicest home you can and live large.  But God teaches us that whatever we own on earth really owns us and that our true and lasting inheritance is in Heaven.  Why mourn over the loss in value of a temporal home that rots and decays when we have mansions of glory waiting for us to inhabit forever?

 ³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you (1 Peter 1:3-5)

Yes, this ordeal with the house has been frustrating.  Yes, I'm sad about the loss in equity.  However, this struggle is only for a blink of an eye when compared to eternity.  It's just a house.

 

Matthew 6:19-21

    ¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

When we fix our eyes above and not on earthly things......

 ¹ Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (Colossians 3)

...and when we consider the cross, our only response can be "THANK YOU"!

Happy Easter!