Deck Building

Billy and I decided to build a deck onto our house to take advantage of the lake view behind us and add a little outdoor living space to our home. We drew up some plans, hired a carpenter and the deck is now officially 'decked.' We wanted to make sure we made it 'big' enough and so we measured and walked around and yet we didn't quite 'envision' what it would REALLY look like. It's BIG - bigger than we imagined.

I think life is a lot like that. We imagine a lot of things that we think would make our lives better or happier. We think we know what we're doing or pursuing yet our minds cannot really wrap around the scope of what is not presently there. Like my deck. When we walked around on the ground floor trying to measure off how big we wanted it and even after we put feet and inches to it, we still couldn't 'see' it because it wasn't there yet.

God has a plan for our lives according to Jeremiah 29:11. He says that plan is abundantly more than we could imagine according to 1 Cor. 2: 9. In the spirit world our lives have more purpose and more power than we can imagine. We can't see it. We can't see how our circumstances - both the good and the bad - have the potential to reflect God's glory. We have no idea how our seemingly inconsequential choices impact the kingdom. We can't understand how our pain and our suffering can possibly have anything to do with God's purposes when He can do anything.

This past Sunday we were studying the period after the resurrection and shaking our heads at how the disciples did not believe Jesus' resurrection even after He had told them He would be crucified and He would rise from the dead. They said - "not till we see Him for ourselves." And so He obliged but with an admonition - "Greater are those who believe and do not see."

I've always found myself feeling smug when I read that.....because hey, that's me! But the veil lifted for a few minutes in class that morning as I realized how little I believe Him when it comes to living out this life. He has given us immeasurable promises about the life we live and the life to come and yet, I mourn my losses and lament my shortcomings. I trust Him for what I see and hang on with my little faith while never daring to believe the great things He is accomplishing in the world I can't yet see.

I hope you 'get' that. He told them He wouldn't stay dead and it was too farfetched for them to grasp with their limited minds. He told us we are deeply loved, filled with His spirit, have a heavenly home, a glorious inheritance and abundant life and yet we LIVE such mundane lives. Continually comparing ourselves to others, worrying about what hasn't happened, harping on what has and walking down our own Emmaeus roads bemoaning how life has not turned out the way we had envisioned it. Just like those disciples, Jesus is walking along beside us saying, "There is more than you are seeing. There is more than you are experiencing. There is more than what you believe to be your reality." Perhaps He is even saying, "YOU are more than you are seeing. YOU are more than your experiences. YOU are more than your reality."

I now walk on an unfinished deck that is real...and big. I am anticipating many hours of enjoyment with my family on it. But more importantly, I stand on the promises of a God who cannot lie and never fails. I can't see it and even the scriptures say my mind can't grasp it. My life too is unfinished but I know this......I want to go out believing Him for a lot more than I've given Him credit for in the past. "Behold, He is making all things new!" I am anticipating that mindset will bring abundant living.

"I believe. Help my unbelief."