Under Construction  –  See. Perceive.  Act.

Not long ago, former procrastinators, an Uber driver shared some thought-provoking observations with my husband and me.  As we manuevered through narrow streets avoiding orange cones and looking for open lanes, the driver said he’d recently been passing through another construction area.  He was thinking how irritating, inconvenient, and time consuming it is to deal with such areas.  It takes months or years to see improvement.  He concluded there are two kinds of road construction, repair and expansion.

Then he said he got to thinking about his wife and how she has things in him she wants to change.  He said “They’re either repair or expansion. It’s irritating, inconvenient, and takes months or years to see improvement.” 

Aren’t we under construction?  Our spouse, children, colleagues, or friends may want to change us in some way, but God definitely does.  He loves us as we are (Romans 5:8) but He made us believers intending to change us.  “For those He foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Romans 8:29). We’re not naturally like Jesus, so the Lord works in us to make us like Him for the purpose of His kingdom.  We have the confident joy that it will also be for our good.  (Romans 8:28)

That makes it easier to go through change.  Still, putting off the old man and putting on the new is like being under construction.  It’s irritating as we stumble or fail and get frustrated or others don’t cooperate with our efforts.  It’s inconvenient to stay alert and to exercise self-control.  Sometimes it takes months or years to see major improvement. But, graciously, God blesses us with noticeable improvement daily, even moment by moment if we respond “yes” to His prompting.  As time passes, we look back and see what a massive overhaul He’s performed in our lives.  And He does it bit by bit, step by step.

Are you looking at some repair in you? Or expansion?  Will diligence change something in you?  Will you take steps that move you out of your comfort zone and expand your abilities?

Urban planners and road engineers envision so much more than we can.  They’re specialists in bringing about change and development.  God is the Master Specialist in bringing about change and development in us.  He sees what we can be.  He perceives clearly what we need.  He acts to transform us in love and wisdom.  It’s often difficult, yet we come to appreciate the new design, the new approach.  We may even have a hard time remembering how it used to be.  But, remembering helps us appreciate our patient, wise God and praise Him for His transforming work in us.

What repair or expansion is God working in you?