Construction

Walking down the hustling and bustling streets of Culver City, right outside of Beverly Hills, I saw a new building being constructed from the ground up. There were loud machines, busy men running around with hard hats, and high studs that would eventually become walls to rooms. I was compelled to stop, watch and listen, not so much “stop, drop, and roll”. Ha, sorry that just made me think of that old childhood adage! Seriously though, it was as if a spiritual sense was welling up within me as I viewed this construction site. I feel like a construction site sometimes. Walls erected, stuff everywhere, emotions loud and quiet,  the excitement of newness, evolving changes, harsh machines around me working purposefully on me, men running around me for who knows what reason, and dust covering a lot. Then in my heart, the Lord said, “  I am at work on your construction site. I am at work in You, beloved one. Your foundation is secure and laid. You may be from dust but you are of Me. I am on & in your scene, hard hats and all. I am crafting beauty out of ashes. You are not merely a project being managed but a building being built. A consecrated sacred temple, actually, being fashioned and beautified where I am dwelling with permanent residence. The Machinery I use may sting sometimes but it is necessary. I am skilled, do not fear. There are finished rooms in you but so many more studs going up for new ones. Exciting reconstruction!” 

I said to Him, “ Lord you are my dwelling place” and He said, “ you are Mine”. 

As I watched the workers floating on soon to be “floors” in between those bare wooden beams I knew that one day those would be filled with people, stuffed chairs, stories, and dinners at unique tables.The construction zone was not forever, it was a means to a good end. It was fascinating to envision what could be from what was or is. What can you make of and in me, Lord? God envisions so much of His Son when He views us, wreck or not. Endless beauty and enlarged rooms for all kind of love, experiences, tears, joys, and eternal fruit production are in store. 

The Lord said that with living stones, or studs in my analogy, we are being built up into His spiritual dwelling. A place where in all the emptiness He fills every square inch. A place that is constantly being refurbished, decorated, and saturated with His purposes, presence, and peace. A place where His spirit passionately hovers in every nook and cranny of the heart. A place where bareness becomes beauty and brokenness becomes wholeness. Oh I love how He speaks in His Word but even on streets in cities. 

“Thank You for building me up on God. You have laid the foundation on and in Christ, now as the walls go up for rooms to be filled by You, remind me of Who it is that will always dwell in me. I permit you to remove walls, move studs around for better security, and construct as You deem best. You have taken up residency within these walls and this skin known as “me”. Thank you Jesus that you are a trusted Craftsman at work accomplishing what You see as fitting. Fill me thoroughly anew O God!” 

Like living stones, we are being built into a spiritual house so we can offer acceptable sacrifices to God. 

(1 Peter 2:5)