Construction

"We must meet the uncertainties of this world with the 
certainty of the world to come." A.W. Tozer

One thing about driving around town that many face is road construction.  We can be happily driving along when we suddenly see the orange cones or caution signs warning us that traffic is slowing down and we must be careful.  And we can encounter just about anything.  There may simply be lanes closed down for a period of time.  There might be major detours.  Sometimes there are even full closures.  These are quite irritating but eventually, we find our way back to where we were headed.  And they serve a purpose:  to make our roads safer to drive on.  It's for our own good.  


As simple as it may sound, road construction can be a metaphor for our lives.  We can be happily gliding along when we run into these caution signs and orange cones.  Often there is no warning though. 


For many years of my life, I didn't handle these changes and detours well.  I did fairly well with the changes I could prepare for, such as a new baby or a shift in daily living.  But if something happened abruptly, I usually took a beating in my faith.  Even the changes I was "prepared" for didn't often go so well.  I questioned God alot.  Had I done something to cause this?  Is God angry with me?  It never occurred to me that perhaps He was allowing certain things in my life to grow and sanctify me.


My family has been experiencing several detours right now.  It seems that everywhere we turn we're running into road blocks, lane changes, and at times complete street closures.  How we respond to these says alot about who we believe God is though?  And I no longer question what God is doing.  I am growing.   I am becoming more like Christ.  He suffered intensely, nothing like the silly detours I am asked to take.  He suffered unto death so that I wouldn't have to.


I take great comfort in the following passage.  

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.. . . For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.  (Hebrew 12:7-8,11)  

It is for discipline that I endure that I experience these detours and road blocks in life.  All to be trained in righteousness.  And the greatest comfort is that He is treating me as His princess.  He is King.  I am His daughter.  He loves me and is growing me up into the image of His Son.  And in the midst I see the greatest cause for celebration.  Christ shed His blood so that I wouldn't have to.  I see that reflected in one of my favorite hymns, "It Is Well".  Enjoy!!

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.