Faith Words: A Dwelling In Which God Lives

We've been watching a show on TV that highlights the craftsmanship of some men who salvage logs and wood from old log buildings and use them to build new homes. These skilled men locate old cabins and barns that are too dilapidated to stand much longer, many around 150 to 200 years old.  While they take them down, they see the skill and care the original builders took in construction and marvel at what pioneers were able to do without power tools and cranes.  They also notice the damage wrought by time and the elements and find the repairs others have made in an effort to keep the cabin standing.

As they dissemble the old cabins, they carefully mark each log, noting its placement in the original structure.   Then, when they haul the logs back to their yard, they're able to reassemble the cabin and repair any damaged logs, so it'll be ready to take to location where it will be rebuilt or where the logs will become a major part of a new house.  They take such pride in their work and they work together so well, each complementing the others on the team, moving and operating as one.

Most of the time, they don't build the final product themselves.  They just stack the logs for that portion of the new structure and leave the rest of it to another contractor.  When they come back later and visit, they know each cut, each log, each notch they made and they stand in awe at what the builder has accomplished making something new out of something so old.  Their hope is that the logs and wood will survive in the new building for another 200 years.

That's kind of how ministry works, isn't it?  We enter the lives of those seeking the Lord at a certain point and put our mark on them, working with them to help them become the new person God has in mind for them to be. Rarely do we get to see a project through from start to finish.  We just have a short time where we pour into some one's life enough to get her to the next person who will be ministering to her.

God's long-term plan for each person is to take us right where we are and build each of us into the new creation He wants us to be.  Along the way there are many workers who will help shape us, and interestingly, we'll leave our mark on them, too.

I like to dream of that glorious Day when we'll get to see each other again and marvel at the beautiful creation we've each become.  We'll remember how we worked together - repairing here, reshaping there.  The final result will show the timeless beauty of our Lord living in each of us, finally perfected and ready to live for an eternity doing what He intended for each of us to do all along.  What a Day that will be!

Shalom!

Patrice

Ephesians 2:22 (NIV)

And in Him, you, too, are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.