Do you feel like God's workmanship? Do you feel like everything you touch falls apart? Yesterday, thanks to a tropical storm (Barry), a flood swept through much of our area, effecting roads, highways, cities, towns, and businesses. It was pretty devastating. This was a pretty real reminder that what we have here is temporary, and we can lose what we have at any given moment. C.S. Lewis put it this way: "The only things we can keep are the things we freely give to God. What we try and keep for ourselves is just what we're sure to lose." Many of us have been through storms like this, not just of a physical nature, but also of a Spiritual, Mental, and.or emotional nature. These storms seek to destroy what we try so desperately to build. BUT, the unfortunate news is that when we try to build it on our own, we have a tendency to get more and more desperate, as, what we try to hold on to seems to slip through our fingers like sands through a sieve. What we build our house on matters. I've seen flooding over the last 3 months in Oklahoma and Arkansas completely devastate communities, and the people who live there. It eroded foundations, and took away homes. The homes, admittedly, were not built on firm foundations, which is why the flood waters rose and took them away (Sounds like a Jesus Story, doesn't it?). Maybe the reason why our spiritual foundations seem so weak when these storms arise is we depend too much on our own selves. Here's what I mean:
Ephesians 2:8-10 says " 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. "
We are God's workmanship. We are not our own, we were bought with a price. Proverbs 3:5-6 says
" 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths. "
We fail and feel sad because we try and do so much on our own. We hurt because we seek to do our own work and we fail constantly. We lose our peace, because...well it's our peace, and not the peace beyond understanding that is produced through the Holy Spirit. We need to build only upon the Rock of Jesus Christ. We need to let the Lord build our house. Otherwise, we're just vainly attempting to work at the temporary, instead of sewing in to the eternal.
Psalm 127 English Standard Version (ESV)
Unless the Lord Builds the House
A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
127 Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. 2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.
3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children[a] of one's youth. 5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.[b]
Footnotes:
A. Psalm 127:4 Or sons
b. Psalm 127:5 Or They shall not be put to shame when they speak with their enemies in the gate
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