under_construction

Caution: Believers Under Construction
by Randall D. Kittle

Spring brings different things to mind to different people. The bird-watcher begins to look longingly for the first robin. For the gardener, it is daffodils and tulips pushing through the snow they keep an ever vigilant eye out for. To the college student, it may ignite thoughts of spring-break. For the farmer it may stir up thoughts of preparing for planting season.

For me, there is a for less spectacular sign that it is Spring — a “sign” that is normally diamond-shaped and orange. It is the ever frustrating sign of road construction. In the spring time, at least in the Midwestern United States, it seems as if the government just can’t wait to tear up the roads and make detours. Sometimes the first sign of Spring in our area is not the first robin, but the first “Construction Ahead” warning sign. Nearly every drive, no matter how short, seems to turn up some area with flashers blinking and large yellow equipment tearing up the earth to the sound of the familiar “beep-beep-beep” of the construction equipment’s warning alarm.

The level of destruction at a construction site can be simply amazing. Huge pieces of heavy equipment uproot trees, jack-hammer apart concrete, and dig up large areas of dirt and old road beds. The old must be destroyed, torn down, and removed before the new can replace it.

That is often how God’s new move shows up in our lives. The Scriptures tell us that in order to be God’s new creation, the old must first pass away before all things become new. There comes a destroying of complacency and familiar sins, and a breaking up of the fallow ground of our hearts. Even for those of us who have walked with the Lord for many years, when times of transition come, they often appear (at first at least) as days of destruction. But we need to remember what the prophet Jeremiah taught us: in the kingdom of God “uproot and tear down” always comes before “to build and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:10 & Jeremiah 31:28).

Many of you feel like you are at that point currently in your lives. The road you have been journeying upon is no longer smooth — everything seems torn up, familiar ways appear blocked, and the detour you seem to be on has things moving about as slow as molasses in January.

Well I have good news for you. One of the nice things about road construction is that once things start coming together, they often proceed at an amazingly fast rate. One week there is nothing but fallen trees and dug up soil, but the next week (after countless dump trucks full of gravel and a seemingly endless stream of cement trucks) the new road opens. And there is nothing quite like driving down a brand new road.

That is God’s desire in this season for many of you. The days of tearing down the old have begun, and while you might be frustrated that things are not as you used to like them to be, always remember that God is a Masterbuilder and know just what He is doing. He is removing anything and everything that will hinder you from fully becoming the man or woman of God He has created you to be. Be glad that the “under construction” sign in your life means the Lord is continuing to complete the good work He has begun in your life … and that it is almost time for God’s new construction to be established in your lives. Rejoice that the Lord has desired to rebuild you into being more of what He has destined you to be. The detour will soon be coming to an need. Before you know it, you will be back to full speed ahead, with all the old ruts and obstacles removed from the spiritual journey of your life.