If you’ve ever worked in construction or had it done, you know it can get messy. I like to tell people to just close their curtains until we’re done, but they don’t. On every one of our jobs we’re going to disrupt their schedule. We’re going to tear up their yard. There’s also going to be a lot of trash piled up because new things come in boxes and the workers create their own trash as well. Things get a lot worse than they were before it gets better. It can be discouraging to the homeowner to see what looks like a chaotic mess. We gave them a picture of what’s coming, but it’s hard to see that design in the middle of construction. The homeowner has to learn to trust the builder and the process by which new things are constructed. No matter how difficult and messy it is during the process, they’re happy when they see the end result.
In Nehemiah 4, the workers in Jerusalem were in that messy middle. They had been doing construction on the walls that had been torn down. They knew they needed them for protection, but they were getting weary with the process. They were also being opposed as they worked because their enemy knew what rebuilding the walls meant. In verse 10 it says, “Then the people of Judah began to complain, ‘The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves’” (NLT). Between the rubble, the mess and their enemies, they were beginning to be discouraged in the process. Nehemiah reminded them that God was at work, concentrated their efforts and posted guards around the workers who were now armed. They were able to complete the construction of the wall and enjoy its benefits because they didn’t give up in the middle.
Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (ESV). You and I are God’s construction zone. We’re being made new and transformed by Him so we can do what we were created to do. It can get messy in the middle of His processes of regenerating us. There’s rubble from our old life, disruption of our schedules and an enemy trying to discourage us and stop the work. Don’t give up in the process. God has a design that will come together beautifully when you’ve gone through His construction process. The construction process is only for a season, but the end result is worth all that you go through. God is working in your life. He’s making all things new and preparing you for what’s ahead. Give Him creative control of your life and let Him be the foreman who makes decisions. He will do a greater job building your life than you ever could.
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 