Built to Last
We have been spending quite a bit of time out on the worksites the past two weeks. My biceps and scraped up legs could easily confirm that. This week we didn't have a team, so it was just our small team of interns working on Ms. Juliet's house and the Recovery Home out in Bogue Heights. In the heat and hardship, God began to speak. I would love to invite you into what He laid so heavily on my heart in hopes that it may touch yours in some way too!
Here in Jamaica (and in many other places outside the US), buildings are not built by putting up wood walls and dry wall. Instead, it is a tedious process. I will spare you every detail and step, but in short this process consists of mixing mortar by hand and laying individual cinder blocks in place.
On Monday, we were rendering the inside of Ms. Juliet's new kitchen. A task that gave our shoulders quite the workout. As we were beginning to see the progress of our job for the day, I began to wrestle with the idea of a house taking so much work to build and prepare before it is safe to live in. It also did not help that following these thoughts came a conversation with a friend about his experiences with building multiple houses in a week through Habitat for Humanity. Out at Bogue, the process seems even longer because each piece of material needs to be brought down the long, rocky hill. The same hill that contributed to the scrapes and bruises on my legs. Not to mention the shortage of shade and breeze makes it seem all the more unbearably hot. The Recovery Home at Bogue is a huge project that is expected to take 4-5 more years. It was started two years ago but has pretty much just sat since then, waiting to be worked on. It is starting to look more like a building because the walls are finally starting to come up. However, as I mentioned before, it is a long process that requires a lot of hard work, sweat, and insane amounts of patience and persistence.
In realizing this, I began to hear God's voice. And it rocked my perspective!
Cement houses take a lot more work than wood houses do to build. Wood houses are faster and eaiser to put up in order for it to be safe enough to live in. Cement houses require more time, effort, dedication, and persistence. There have been a few times in the past few weeks when I wished we could just take the easy route and put some slabs of wood up and call it complete. It would be easier and the results would be more obvious much quicker. However, the durablity would suffer. We are building in a place where hurricanes and storms are very common. In fact, we are entering hurricane season here. Fires are also common everywhere we go here. So imagine if we took the easy route and built an easier house. We would be right back again having to start all over building a place safe to live in, only until the next storm or fire hit.
It is the exact same way in our relationship with God! And in fact, in any relationship. So often we try to take the fast and easy route of Christianity. We do what religion calls us to do so we can check it off our list and expect to be saved from hardship. We put up a wooden house because it requires less work right off the bat. However, when storms and fires come, we wonder why it all comes crashing down so easily. When in all reality, putting more work into our relationship with God cultivates a much stronger connection with The Almighty. So in that, we are able to withstand the storms and the fires of life. We are building our lives in a place that is known for hardships, darkness, pain, and many other forms of storms. So why do we think we can build a relationship with God the easy way and expect it to withstand storms? What does the house of your relationship look like? Are you putting in all the proper effort in order to ensure that when troubles come, everything else may disappear and you will be content as long as you are still in the hands of the Almighty?
Here in Jamaica (and in many other places outside the US), buildings are not built by putting up wood walls and dry wall. Instead, it is a tedious process. I will spare you every detail and step, but in short this process consists of mixing mortar by hand and laying individual cinder blocks in place.
On Monday, we were rendering the inside of Ms. Juliet's new kitchen. A task that gave our shoulders quite the workout. As we were beginning to see the progress of our job for the day, I began to wrestle with the idea of a house taking so much work to build and prepare before it is safe to live in. It also did not help that following these thoughts came a conversation with a friend about his experiences with building multiple houses in a week through Habitat for Humanity. Out at Bogue, the process seems even longer because each piece of material needs to be brought down the long, rocky hill. The same hill that contributed to the scrapes and bruises on my legs. Not to mention the shortage of shade and breeze makes it seem all the more unbearably hot. The Recovery Home at Bogue is a huge project that is expected to take 4-5 more years. It was started two years ago but has pretty much just sat since then, waiting to be worked on. It is starting to look more like a building because the walls are finally starting to come up. However, as I mentioned before, it is a long process that requires a lot of hard work, sweat, and insane amounts of patience and persistence.
In realizing this, I began to hear God's voice. And it rocked my perspective!
It is the exact same way in our relationship with God! And in fact, in any relationship. So often we try to take the fast and easy route of Christianity. We do what religion calls us to do so we can check it off our list and expect to be saved from hardship. We put up a wooden house because it requires less work right off the bat. However, when storms and fires come, we wonder why it all comes crashing down so easily. When in all reality, putting more work into our relationship with God cultivates a much stronger connection with The Almighty. So in that, we are able to withstand the storms and the fires of life. We are building our lives in a place that is known for hardships, darkness, pain, and many other forms of storms. So why do we think we can build a relationship with God the easy way and expect it to withstand storms? What does the house of your relationship look like? Are you putting in all the proper effort in order to ensure that when troubles come, everything else may disappear and you will be content as long as you are still in the hands of the Almighty?
"Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
He is my God, and I trust Him."
~Psalm 91: 1-2
I want to leave you with this peice of encouragement. The process may seem long and may require a lot of work, but it definitely worth it! Above is a picture of Paja and I after a long day of laying 103 blocks together. It was exhausting and difficult, but the joy that came from doing it all with Jesus is completely indescribable! So keep pushing forward in your daily walk with Christ! Be intentional about your relationship with Him and walk through life connected to the Almighty Carpenter who wants a lasting relationship!
(Now, don't get me wrong, I am not discounting at all the amount
of work required to build a house at all, or the value of building wood
houses! This is simply an analogy).
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