When you hear the word “construction,” what comes to your
mind? Is it; delays, impatience,
frustration, irritations, or amazement of seeing the progress every time you
pass that way to work. Whatever goes
through your mind, one thing we can all agree on is that it can be a nuisance
when you are in a rush to go somewhere, only to be delayed by the “road work.”
Over the last ten years, on the route I take to work, I have
witnessed two different housing developments being built from scratch. Of course the beginning stage was seeing all
the bulldozers, dump trucks, and other equipment digging up the ground and
taking away the dirt. This went on for a
while, and this was my route to work and I had to expect delays or take another
route which would have been longer.
Most people get stuck in the beginning phase of God’s
construction process. He shows us
visions, dreams, prophetic words of what He is doing in our lives and business;
but the initial stage of any new project can often be the most painful. This is where I see so many lose hope. Why are we still in this phase? When are we going to move forward to
something that is fun or at least doesn’t require much pressure? Before the men can start building, they must
break up the ground, turn over the soil, and tear up the existing streets
around it, before they can lay down new foundation. Everything I just mentioned requires pressure
to make this happen. That is why I see
all the dump trucks and bulldozers; heavy machinery for a heavy job. There is a major parallel to the steps of
building a new development to the steps required to building a NEW YOU!
Phase 1 – Breaking up the old. When the men first
start, you have no idea what they are building.
All you see is one big field that has to go through a major
overhaul. The Bible tells us that Jesus
was able to endure the process because the joy that was set before Him. Jesus saw the bigger picture, so He was able
to endure the cross which was the route He had to take for becoming our great
High Priest. It was not a skip in the
park process for Jesus and because He is our example, you have to know it will
not be a skip in the park process for you.
Jeremiah 1 tells us that when God is the head foreman for our construction
project, then He must root out, pull down, destroy, throw down before He can
begin to build and plant. Old, negative,
erroneous, faulty and wounded paradigms in our soul and thinking must be
eradicated before phase 2 can begin. The
ground and concrete never fight back with the construction workers, but we make
this process hard because we fight what God is breaking.
Phase 2 – Repaving the road for the new. Once the men break up the previous ground,
they begin to repave the adjoining streets based on the new layout and diagrams. As you see, not one house has been built yet,
we are still working on the surrounding areas.
We may have a deep desire to work with the youth, women, abused, men,
ex-offenders, etc.; or you know you are called to the ministry but before God
can build that part of you; He works on all the surrounding areas. All the roads that will lead them to what He
is building. We don’t always know what
that looks like, but we have to trust the God who is the head of this
construction project. If you have a
problem with trusting God, it will make phase 1 harder because that wounded
paradigm hasn’t been broken yet. Present
your hurts and wounds to God as a sacrifice of surrender so what God is
bringing you into won’t be corrupted by the old places in you.
Phase 3 – Laying the new foundation. Now the men are ready to start laying the
foundation for the homes in that new development. I remember when I added a new back room in my
office; I saw the layers that were required for the foundation stage. It was only a small space, but what went
underneath the ground was more important than what we admire when we see the
finished product. Today many people want
to be the final product without paying the price for all the materials needed
in the foundation stage. As a prophet
positioned in the marketplace that’s also a pastor, I’m called to awaken the
church out of her sleep and train the army of God for Kingdom assignment. I have seen many things. Most people who complain about the church
saying they are not teaching, or know that there is more out there other than
what they have experienced are the same ones who fight phase 1. If you are ever
going to be the new design that God is going to use in the Earth, you MUST go
through every phase. Fighting what God
has already pre-ordained for your life, will eventually hurt you. You can’t run from your foreman, no matter
how many ways you try.
Phase 4 – Framing – Drywall – Rough In. At this stage you get a little more excited
because you can see it starting to come together. You have a visual of what the rooms will look
like. You can picture it painted and
decorated, but it is still many more stages that a contractor has to do to get
it ready for you to move in. You never
want to get to a place where you start skipping steps because it looks like you
are there. This is why we have so many
people building ministries and businesses that have that form of godliness, but
got ahead of the foreman’s schedule for their life. If we begin to skip steps in the building
process, then when the climate changes and strong winds, rain or snow hits your
neighborhood it could possible bring about damage because it could not
withstand the pressure of the elements.
It is the same thing with what we are doing. Many people are doing things “in the name of
God” but didn’t allow God to build it the way He intended it to be built. So eventually they fizzle out because they
can no longer maintain their momentum or what they built begins to wither
away. James 1 says to let patience have her
perfect work. God knows what He is
building and the many storms that will come and you need to be solid enough to
withstand every season you will face.
Phase 5 – The finishing touches. Did you realize that different people would
come in with their specialties and make the home you live in complete? You need the plumber, electrical, HVAC,
flooring, carpentry, roofer, etc. When
the contractor is working, he will have to rough in different sections for the
other specialties to do what they need to do and then the contractor can
complete his portion. The Bible says He
that has begun a good work knows how to complete it to its fruition. No matter what stage you are in, God knows
how to get you to the final product.
Finishing touches can be things like, your character, the smell you
release when you speak, and the motives being purified. We sometimes focus so much on our gifts,
talents and persona; that we often forget that God is dealing with the heart
and motives and the smell you release in His presence.
Be blessed by this word and understand God is at the helm of
your life.
