Building a House

I'm currently building a house in Beattyville, KY. The construction process began back in November, and while there have been periods during which the building process progressed rapidly, the building process has, for the most part, been slow. I have learned in all of this that when you build a house, expect delays. It may rain for an entire week and halt progress completely. There are all kinds of inspections that have to take place, and it can be a chore just to get the inspectors to your property, so you have to wait on them. I could go on, but I'm sure you get the point: it takes time to build a house; it's a lot of work.

At the same time, professional contractors can finish a house in less than a month. They work on it every day. They know exactly what they are doing, and they are so well-organized that the delays don't affect them as much.

Spiritually speaking, we are all building a house. On an individual level, our spiritual growth is compared to the construction of a house (1 Cor. 3:11-12). Christ is the foundation (vv. 11), and different materials are used to build the house. One fact that we must recognize about constructing our spiritual house (spiritual growth) is that the process takes time. A person doesn't become a mature Christian immediately. Rather, one grows from being a babe in Christ to being mature in Christ (Heb. 5:12-14; 1 Pet. 2:1-3). We must nurture our spiritual man, and we must utilize the tools that God has given us so that our spiritual house can be constructed properly.

On an individual level, we encounter delays in our spiritual growth, especially early on. We face peer-pressure (1 Pet. 4:3-4), false teachings that may set us back (2 Tim. 2:17-18). Our former life may tug at us, calling us back to perdition and sin (Lk. 9:62). Just as literal storms hinder the construction of a house, so also do these metaphoric storms hinder our spiritual growth. But there is good news here: the more professional we become as spiritual construction workers, the more easily it will be to overcome these setbacks and to push through them.

What are the lessons here?

1. Be patient as you grow in the faith. I remember when I was first converted, I looked at the Bible and thought to myself, "I will never understand any of this," but sure enough, after years of study, I have developed a good understanding of the word of God (not that I know everything, because I don't). Growth takes time.
2. Recognize that setbacks and delays will happen. Satan will do all that he can to hinder and/or reverse your spiritual growth. Be ready.
3. Use the tools that God has given you. This is huge. In the literal construction business, you have to have the right tools to be efficient. Just the other day, I decided to tie up a few loose ends on some siding work we had done, but I didn't have the tools I needed, and so I couldn't do the work. God has given us all the tools we need (2 Pet. 1:3) to build our spiritual house. We have the avenue of prayer (Heb. 4:16), the local church (Eph. 4:16), and of course, we have the word of God (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Use these tools.

I know that one day, my house in Lee County will be finished. I look forward to that day when I can move in and start my new life there. It is such an exciting process and I am enjoying every minute of it. But do you know what I am more excited about? My spiritual growth...and even more than that, I am excited about the day when I will cast off this temporary house and put on the eternal house spoken of in 2 Corinthians 5:1-2: "For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven."