Monday, May 12, 2014
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My son is old enough to have kids of his own now, but we were looking at pictures of him when he was about three. We were in our back yard and we had just set up our tent. We were going to camp out in it that tent that night. Here was a little guy wanting to help his Daddy, so he played with the poles, held the flaps open on the tent door, he was so excited.
I had to go in the house and so he was alone with the tent that was all... Did I mention to you it was all nicely set up for the night? Then he decided to go inside and run around. He was so excited! I guess he decided that one of the poles wasn't quite where he thought it ought to be. So, he grabbed the pole to hold up the rest of the structure of the tent. The entire tent came crashing down around this little guy. The photo, oh I just wish you could see it. It shows him with that one pole in his hand, the tent totally collapsed next to him. He's got the other hand holding his forehead with this look of sheer bewilderment on his face. He tried to build it, but it just collapsed around him. I know the feeling.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want A Word With You today about "The Wrong Builder."
Our word for today from the Word of God is about some suffering. It's in Psalm 127. I'll be reading verses 1-2. "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand by it in vain. In vain you rise up early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat." I guess at a time you build in vain it's safe to say that you're wasting your time. Why bother wasting your time? I would call this a psalm for men and women who work real hard and are make-it-happen people.
See, these are people who feel like, "Yes, I will pray about it. I will ask for God's help. But it's all up to me ultimately." Well, the problem isn't solved if you just work longer or work harder, or follow your own plan. See, we're like, "I've got to work on an answer for myself." They are sort of control freaks. In the process, I can totally throw my life out-of-balance. Man, it's not working, so I've got to do more, work more, make it happen, get up early, stay up late. You often end up neglecting the things that really matter: your family, your other important relationships, your health, your time with God. Work, work, work, work, that's what I think the solution is. Guess what? My tent is falling down.
The Lord isn't saying to you right now, "Work more." He may be saying, "trust more." So often I'm acting as if I'm the builder. The Lord uses my efforts, sure. But success doesn't depend on my efforts. So often my frantic work is really the story of the old sinful, self-reliant, Ron. "I've got to do it. I've got to be in control." But I need help from God. I need God to be overseeing and actually doing it through me. Unless the Lord builds the house, you're wasting your time.
Maybe God wanted you to hear this today because you've kind of been depending on your own efforts to build something that isn't working. The "hurrieder" you go, the "behinder" you get. So quit acting as if it's all up to you. Philippians 2:13 says, "For it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure." If the Lord builds it, it won't fall down, and you won't be left holding a pole; holding your head with a bewildered look on your face.
Maybe the project isn't working simply because you are depending on the wrong builder. You know, that's why life doesn't work. That's why we end up watching a life falling down around us that we have tried to build, because we were never meant to build it. We were never meant to be the architect. The Bible says, "We were created by Christ and for Christ." And we've ended up living it for ourselves. That's why He died. That's why He went to a cross. That's why He walked out of His grace so He could rescue us from what our self-effort could never do. I could never get into heaven on my own. All the religion in the world will not get me there. It takes the Man who died for it.
Today, if life's been falling apart, it's time for you to grab the hand of Jesus extended to you today. I would love to help you begin your relationship with Him. Would you just go to our website ANewStory.com and let your new story begin today.