Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Under construction

I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).

The owner of a shipyard steps out of his office and takes a look around him. Close by is the skeleton of a ship in the early stages of construction; over there is a hull with no super structure rising above it; and beyond that is a vessel that is outwardly whole, but still needs much work inside before it is ready to sail. Nowhere in the shipyard is there a single vessel that is finished and ready for use.

The air is filled with the noise of construction—banging, the scraping of metal, orders barked from one builder to another. The ground is a mess, a mixture of mud and scraps of debris. Yet despite the chaos, despite the fact that not one ship is finished, the owner is content. He never doubts the outcome of his work; in his mind’s eye, he sees each vessel brought to perfect completion. This gives him patience during the long, slow process of construction.

God is like that ship builder. He has an ideal man or woman in mind as he creates each of us. We are like the ships which are under construction. None of us is perfect—some have large obvious flaws, while others can only be seen as incomplete if you take a careful look inside. This world is like the shipyard; it is muddy and cluttered with things that are dangerously sharp. Making progress in such a place is challenging and dangerous.

To the untrained eye, conditions in the shipyard look anything but hopeful. Yet the owner sees things differently—instead of chaos and imperfection, he sees a process going on that is leading to a final product of his design. So it is with God. The world is messy and dangerous, and every person in it falls short of the ideal. But as disappointing as things might seem, our Creator does not give up—He has perfection as His goal, and He knows what He can do with imperfect men and women. So the next time you get frustrated with the people in your life, remember that, like you, they are a work in progress. And if there is someone you are convinced will never change, remember that Jesus said: "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God" (Mark 10:27).

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