Building Your House
I was talking to a friend on the phone the other night and remarked "I feel like I have just finished setting my foundation and I am now building walls." I have been an active, God-seeking Christian since I was 14, but at 22 I am JUST NOW finishing the foundation of my walk. My first thought when I hear this is that it's sad it took me 'so long' to get to building walls, but that's shame from the enemy. My foundation took 8 years to set because it is a firm and solid foundation, and the Lord's timing is perfect. God looks upon my 8-year foundation that he worked in me to build and says "This is good." Then...He gets to work on the walls.
In our walk with the Lord, we are building a relationship with Him like we are building a house. You start with a foundation, then move to framing, insulation, etc. You even get to work on the small details like wiring, sanding; you get the picture. When your house is done...it isn't. You decorate it, you fill it with things, and you fix it when it breaks. A house is constantly being worked on/worked in, like how the Lord is constantly working on/in us. I find such joy in the words Paul wrote in Philippians 1:5-6, "...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus". This implies two wonderful things, 1) that someday we will be complete in Christ! 2) Until then, God will be faithfully growing us!
However, we must recognize that this house is a team project. We definitely cannot build this house without Jesus' expertise, and there won't be any lasting progress if we aren't intentionally building alongside him. God is not ever going to quit building his relationship with us, so we are the weak link. When building gets hard and requires too much effort, we may walk away from our house to 'take a break.' We may decide we don't like the renovations Jesus is doing to our house and we want to build a new house. We may think that other things and activities are more fun or fruitful. Whatever it may be, there is a temptation to step away from the 'project' that is your relationship with God. SO NOT WORTH IT! A house becomes a home the more we work on it, it becomes a place we love and cherish. We have to spend time with Jesus and diligently work with him to shape us. When we do, we will get true joy, peace, love, and fulfillment. Like it says in James 1:17..."Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change".
But it's not about how big or how impressive your projects are. Some seasons you build foundations, other seasons you change the lightbulbs. Every project is necessary to build your house! Do not lower the merit of season of growth because it may be perceived as small, God rejoices with you! You overcame drug addiction? Praise God! You let go of earthly music? Prasie God in that, too! No overcoming, no healing, no growth in God is too little or too big. After all, it says in Zephaniah 3:17 "The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing".
Furthermore, don't get disheartened when parts of your house that you previously perfected in Christ get damaged. Satan hates your wholeness in Christ, and will put people/things/emotions in your path to shake you. Regardless of him throwing bricks through your windows and cutting your telephone lines, Satan doesn't win. Being grounded in Jesus is the only way to combat him, and remind him where he belongs. ("Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." James 4:7) Jesus is faithful to pick up the pieces of your broken heart and mend them back together with you. Don't try to repair them on your own with duct tape, Jesus is a professional. The only way to get your house back into perfect working order is by anchoring yourself in Jesus alone.
This post was a little metaphor-heavy, but something you'll learn throughout my posting here is that I am a sucker for a good metaphor. I feel like it helps me fully understand the aspects of complex issues, and when it's laid out like this it seems so simple. We are all on a journey and it's so exciting! God is so excited! Yes there may be hard seasons, but God is always faithful to pull you through and renew you.
Phil. 1:3-6
Megan
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