Stable Homes and Cities

If God doesn’t build the house, the builders only build shacks. If God doesn’t guard the city, the night watchman might as well nap. (Psalm 127:1-2)

Just a couple of thoughts today as we break down this passage a bit - God must be central in all we set out to accomplish and he must be central in all our relationships. We can 'build and build', all the while not really building of any long-term value. I was able to get some free pallets a while back and decided to break them down into usable pieces that I could build some raised gardens with. They lasted about four years before decay began to make them no longer useful. I had to replace all that hard work with block beds because of the decay. They looked good for a while, but as time went on, the wood didn't hold up to the elements. 

There are times when we 'build and build' in our relationships, thinking what we are 'building' is strong and stable, only to find they aren't as 'stable' as we had hoped. There are things we do to feel secure and 'whole' in our homes, but in the long run they don't really make us any more secure or 'whole' than we were before we put them there. That video doorbell won't stop someone from breaking in, but it could deter a porch pirate. That gun in the safe isn't going to stop a thief, but you may feel a bit more secure knowing it is there. Relationships must be built on solid ground if they are to mature and stand the test of time. Homes and cities are only as 'secure' and 'stable' as the relationships maintained within those walls!

So, how do we build relationships that will stand the tests that come their way? I think we can see plainly that if God isn't at the center of these relationships, all the building is really with 'inferior materials'. Just as the beds made from wood began to decay with the elements, the relationship without Christ at the center will also face 'decay' and 'pressure' from the elements of life that challenge its stability. We might think it has to be that we grow with God 'together', but all growth begins individually, and that somehow 'spills over' into the type of growth that binds us together. We might want to focus on the other person in the relationship, thinking they are to 'blame' for the instability in the home or city, but it could just be that 'stability' begins with us! Just sayin!

Complacency is not our friend

"The tragedy of life is often not in our failure, but rather in our complacency; not in our doing too much, but rather in our doing too little; not in our living above our ability, but rather in our living below our capacities." (Benjamin E. Mays) Complacency becomes the norm too many times in our lives - pleased at what we have become, accomplished, or been able to overcome - rather self-satisfied.  Complacency is one of the most cunning and deceiving enemies of our soul - all because we begin to see our "merits" and totally take our eyes off any "demerits" we might have amassed along the way.  When we focus only upon the merits of one's character, we are really making ourselves "unaware" of any potential flaws.  Those who forget their flaws have no desire to grow because they become content with what they already have done, experienced, or know in life.

I can do all things because Christ gives me the strength.  (Philippians 4:13 NLV)

Life is "done" in many ways.  We often find ourselves "doing life" on our own terms, in our own power, within our own devices.  Although this may seem "safer" than exploring into the unknown or "darker" areas of our life, we avoid what may be the most significant places where God's attention needs to be directed.  As Mays said, the danger is not that we will discover or do too much, but rather than we will become content with what has been done and never take another step further.  I don't always like change, but I have learned change brings with it certain benefits - not the least is that of realizing just how much of Jesus I still need in my life!

You may not know who Benjamin Mays was, but you will recognize the name of one of the individuals who learned at his feet - Martin Luther King.  Mays was a Baptist minister and one of the leaders in the Civil Rights Movement.  He spoke so eloquently about the idea of living with a purpose because he himself found his purpose in serving those God brought across his path.  As he said, “The tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. It isn’t a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream. It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for, not failure, but low aim, is sin.”  Low aim - that is an apt illustration describing the reason we so many times just don't take another step, settling for what has been, when what lies ahead awaits us, almost beckoning to us, but we have turned a deaf ear to it.

We may not know what "things" God has in store for us, but we can be faithful to not "settle" for what has been.  The "all things" we can do are only possible when we don't allow complacency to become the pattern by which we live our lives.  Today's impossibilities are not put there to confound or confine us, but to give us room for growth - to expand our capacity.  Strength comes not in inaction, but in purposeful action toward a goal.  Inner change only concludes when all of Christ is resident within - something we really cannot measure, nor can we describe as "complete" until he says it is!  Just sayin!