The new name is Purple Palace. It's a fitting name for the rental house I live in. If you were to come visit, you would stroll through the front door and glimpse fields of purple. Purple carpet, purplish counter-tops, purple-gray tile around the fire place perfectly complemented by purple-gray linoleum on the kitchen and bathroom floors. Ascending to the second floor would provide you no relief. The purple carpet happily crawls up the stairs and into the bedrooms as well. Supposedly, one man inhabited this house before my housemates and I did. It's a curious wonder how he survived the overt femininity.
Okay, truth be told, I actually like the Purple Palace just fine. The carpets feel somewhat cozy. Imagine a grayish purple rather than a Barney-purple and you may catch the aumbiance. Yet, there is something still stark and cold about the Purple Palace...the albino walls. Bright, undimmed, the-purist-wedding-dress-white walls. No touch of warmth. No hint of color. Albino.
I have concluded that the albino must be vanished. Perhaps it's the feeling of jealousy or longing every time I enter another house that is the telling sign. I find myself drooling over any color of wall...yellow, bright green, mocha, red...doesn't really matter. Once in the presence of such a wall, I transform into a color-thirsty savage who desperately clings to the color-hued drywall for dear life, hoping to never return to albino-land.
A bit dramatic, but you get the point, right? So, I wrote to the owner of our house and asked for permission to have a painting extravaganza (though I didn't use such words with her). Not surprisingly, she readily agreed, informing me that she always thought there needed to be some contrast on the walls. Great! But, what color? Remember, we live in the Purple Palace. Choosing an appropriate color will be no small challenge.
The challenge, however, makes me think of an analogous challenge in in my walk with Christ. Having purple carpets makes choosing the perfect wall color difficult. In the same way, factors X, Y, and Z in my life complicate upcoming decisions A, B, and C. Thus, I start to ponder for God how He can work out the mess perfectly. The problem is that I usually can't figure it out or else my formula is so exacting that there would be a greater chance of a termite building the Eiffel Tower than of my plan coming to fruition.
So, just as I tell myself that the wall color will work out and come together, I am reminded that God knows the perfect color to match the specific carpet in my life. In fact, it's even easier for Him to coordinate the incredible details in my life than it is for me to purchase the best hue for my walls. Simple analogy. Yet, profoundly difficult for me to grasp.
The Purple Palace has taught me a life lesson this morning. God uses even the color purple to get through my thick skull. Thanks, God!
