Build with Care
I thought now would be a good time just as any to share some thoughts from the past few weeks. It would probably take pages to cover what has occurred in my life over the past few months, and some would argue I probably have! Brevity is something I’ll continue to pursue. Alas, if I could choose 2 or 3 sentences it would be this. A rich life wouldn’t be nearly as rich without the difficult moments and emotions to teach us how sweet and memorable moments, even the seemingly insignificant ones, are in defining that full and rich life God has given us. And in those difficult moments, it’s better to greet them (meaning difficult emotions) as a welcomed visitor whose intent is to only stay for a short while. But for those whose hope and faith is in the Lord, God calls each of our hearts home and He is there to greet and say “hello” to each of those moments with us.
So my intentional walk with God had taken a detour for a while. I wasn’t taking ANY steps to spend time with Him through His Word or acknowledge the true weight and value that relationship has or could have in my life. The result was a myriad of emotions that can make you feel as though you’re flailing in rough waters. It becomes harder to listen to God’s still voice, or feel the prompting of His Spirit, or feel the calming Words that can come from His Word. So what’s the best thing to do? Find my travelling companion, which is God. I started having daily devotionals again. I think God provided two great examples for me. One was spending the night with my best friend and having devotional with her and her husband and seeing how it helped to root them. Secondly, I have had a chance to get to know a Korean couple from church who I met during an event called Turkey Outreach. Their kind, gentle, and encouraging words helped me take that first step back to God, since I was the one who walked away, not Him.
I started in 1 Corinthians and set off to try and complete one chapter per day. My church has been emphasizing the importance of approaching God’s Word with a humble heart, an open mind, and an approach that walks through Scripture using the inductive method.
Each day that I spent reading and digging in, I found my heart and soul come alive. It was like I was coming alive and was feeding a deprived organ with the life source that only God can fulfill. For those of you who have kept up, the very things that I relied on to feel secure and whole, my friends and Denver, their season had ended for various reasons. Not to say those relationships were removed, some were, but others changed due to just simply life happening. But while they were blessings, I came to realize my focus was on the gift of friendships and Denver and not a sold out desire for nothing less but God. So when those went away, I felt like my whole foundation was rocked to the core. And while painful, it is something God needed to do to bring me back closer to Him.
So when I came across 1 Corinthians Chapter 3, it came alive! For a bit of context, Paul is writing to the members of the church in Corinth he had planted and was now being led by Apollos. The Corinthian church was relatively young. Paul considered them infants in the Lord and still living a very worldly lifestyle. His writings were to provide correction, encouragement, and to share the love he had for them even amongst the reputation they were building based on their jealousy, arrogance, infighting, and probably a whole host of other things. Paul is trying to address a concern he had for the fighting they had about who their allegiance and dedication was for. Based on what I got from Scripture, it seems like the members became divided by who they followed, Paul or Apollos or other leaders. Their focus was not properly directed to God and the work of Jesus Christ. Paul is reiterating the role that he and Apollos had played; planting and watering. But Paul is very straight forward in that God is the head of the church and is the only thing that can make those efforts fruitful. So here is where I could only say “oh wow!” Let’s pick it up at 1 Corinthians 3:10-14.
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.
In this case, Paul is pointing out how we should approach the work of the Lord with care, for the work that we do in God’s name will be tested for its quality. So it made me think of how it applies to not only my heart towards the work in God’s field, but also in other areas in life like relationships, more specifically with my relationship with God. Meaning, have I built my relationship with care? Have I approached it with reverence, dedication, love, humbleness, and steadfast desire? The answer will probably be that I’ve approached it at various points like a relationship with an on and off again boyfriend. Some areas in that building, an analogy for my relationship with God, would have cracks in its structure above the foundation, or spotty workmanship in how I handled situations that occurred throughout my life, or used a blow torch to express anger and frustration towards God for answers I didn’t really appreciate. Some other parts may show patches of solid and true desire to be a willing servant. But when the relationship is tested, will the whole building stand? Will my relationship with God stand strong with the building elements of prayer, love, unwavering faith, and a full acknowledgement of God as my Lord and Jesus as my Savior? I guess what’s where God had a lesson for me. It probably has other applications to how we should approach anything, marriage, friendships, or our professional careers. Build each of those things with care, with Jesus Christ being the foundation of each of those things.
On a personal note, I’ve decided to start a new journey with a third guide dog from The Seeing Eye. I begin training on January 13th. As this is an incredible experience of bonding, trust, and a unique aspect of life as a blind person, I’ll try to keep my blog updated with a small paragraph about each day during my three week training.
So my intentional walk with God had taken a detour for a while. I wasn’t taking ANY steps to spend time with Him through His Word or acknowledge the true weight and value that relationship has or could have in my life. The result was a myriad of emotions that can make you feel as though you’re flailing in rough waters. It becomes harder to listen to God’s still voice, or feel the prompting of His Spirit, or feel the calming Words that can come from His Word. So what’s the best thing to do? Find my travelling companion, which is God. I started having daily devotionals again. I think God provided two great examples for me. One was spending the night with my best friend and having devotional with her and her husband and seeing how it helped to root them. Secondly, I have had a chance to get to know a Korean couple from church who I met during an event called Turkey Outreach. Their kind, gentle, and encouraging words helped me take that first step back to God, since I was the one who walked away, not Him.
I started in 1 Corinthians and set off to try and complete one chapter per day. My church has been emphasizing the importance of approaching God’s Word with a humble heart, an open mind, and an approach that walks through Scripture using the inductive method.
Each day that I spent reading and digging in, I found my heart and soul come alive. It was like I was coming alive and was feeding a deprived organ with the life source that only God can fulfill. For those of you who have kept up, the very things that I relied on to feel secure and whole, my friends and Denver, their season had ended for various reasons. Not to say those relationships were removed, some were, but others changed due to just simply life happening. But while they were blessings, I came to realize my focus was on the gift of friendships and Denver and not a sold out desire for nothing less but God. So when those went away, I felt like my whole foundation was rocked to the core. And while painful, it is something God needed to do to bring me back closer to Him.
So when I came across 1 Corinthians Chapter 3, it came alive! For a bit of context, Paul is writing to the members of the church in Corinth he had planted and was now being led by Apollos. The Corinthian church was relatively young. Paul considered them infants in the Lord and still living a very worldly lifestyle. His writings were to provide correction, encouragement, and to share the love he had for them even amongst the reputation they were building based on their jealousy, arrogance, infighting, and probably a whole host of other things. Paul is trying to address a concern he had for the fighting they had about who their allegiance and dedication was for. Based on what I got from Scripture, it seems like the members became divided by who they followed, Paul or Apollos or other leaders. Their focus was not properly directed to God and the work of Jesus Christ. Paul is reiterating the role that he and Apollos had played; planting and watering. But Paul is very straight forward in that God is the head of the church and is the only thing that can make those efforts fruitful. So here is where I could only say “oh wow!” Let’s pick it up at 1 Corinthians 3:10-14.
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.
In this case, Paul is pointing out how we should approach the work of the Lord with care, for the work that we do in God’s name will be tested for its quality. So it made me think of how it applies to not only my heart towards the work in God’s field, but also in other areas in life like relationships, more specifically with my relationship with God. Meaning, have I built my relationship with care? Have I approached it with reverence, dedication, love, humbleness, and steadfast desire? The answer will probably be that I’ve approached it at various points like a relationship with an on and off again boyfriend. Some areas in that building, an analogy for my relationship with God, would have cracks in its structure above the foundation, or spotty workmanship in how I handled situations that occurred throughout my life, or used a blow torch to express anger and frustration towards God for answers I didn’t really appreciate. Some other parts may show patches of solid and true desire to be a willing servant. But when the relationship is tested, will the whole building stand? Will my relationship with God stand strong with the building elements of prayer, love, unwavering faith, and a full acknowledgement of God as my Lord and Jesus as my Savior? I guess what’s where God had a lesson for me. It probably has other applications to how we should approach anything, marriage, friendships, or our professional careers. Build each of those things with care, with Jesus Christ being the foundation of each of those things.
On a personal note, I’ve decided to start a new journey with a third guide dog from The Seeing Eye. I begin training on January 13th. As this is an incredible experience of bonding, trust, and a unique aspect of life as a blind person, I’ll try to keep my blog updated with a small paragraph about each day during my three week training.
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