It only takes one drive from Newcastle to Sydney to realise everywhere you go there’s construction. You drive along Hunter Street or through Tuggerah and see that not only are the roads being torn up, but also there’s a man with sign telling you to slow down. Now, being an impatient person who has a tendency of being late, I find this construction work entirely inconvenient.
I don’t want to slow down, let alone stop.
Sitting in traffic I think to myself, who decided this was a good idea? And why the heck didn’t they run it past me? After all I am a taxpayer and I have the right to know what the heck they are doing and how it’s going to make our travels better. In my weird, impatient and somewhat erratic ways, I decide that I must see the plans. I don’t know a thing about construction but I have some serious concerns about the efficiency of this project. Can I call the council and ask to look over the plans and approve them before they begin? Not likely. Can I at least attend some sort of town meeting and put in my two cents? Again, not likely. And can somebody please for the sake of humanity tell me if night roadwork speed limits are entirely necessary? I can’t see a single person working so why do I have to drive at 40km/h? (That’s a personal rant, sorry about it).
I shared this with our Charmhaven Creatives a few months back and have since been reminded of its significance. Though it’s all a bit fun, there’s something in this strange analogy that us creatives can take away.
We, as Christ followers, are accepting a life that is permanently under construction. Whilst this may make my heart feel distressed and annoyed and may even make me consider a different route all together, I know there’s a plan that will consolidate my foundations and smooth the road ahead of me.
How often when it comes to our lives do we think “God, you’ve stuffed up the plan this time.” How often do we say “God, if you could just show me the plan, I’d be able to trust you.” How often do we pick up the metaphorical phone and say “God if I just knew how long this construction would take, I’d be able to plan my life accordingly. Like really, what’s the timeline looking like? Days, weeks, months, years?”. Or do we speak to God in the same way we speak to Siri “Hey God, find me another route.”
Has anyone else been in this spot?
The truth is, I don’t know what God’s plan is a lot of the time. Or at least not in the detail I’d like. I cannot see the hidden things he is working on, all I see are roadblocks and detours.
The construction zones in our hearts lay our foundations bare. Sometimes these construction zones reveal that we are built on something solid, other times we realise we need to restructure our base. We so desperately want to avoid the deconstruction that we forget that something new is happening. God is making a better way, a smoother way, one with less potholes and traffic jams and one with wide open space where I can drive in my own lane with Him beside me.
There are seasons of waiting, seasons of stopping, seasons of slowing down and adjusting to a new pace. Just as there are seasons of smooth, well planned roads with no distractions.
But God is in all of these things, bringing it all together for our good. I think it’s no coincidence that Jesus was a carpenter. He knows how to build things. He’s a maker. He’s a problem solver. He’s a planner. He is the original creator.
So in the seasons where we feel we’ve needed to slow down, or stop all together, or where we’ve felt that God hasn’t let us in on His plans for us, we can be sure that nothing compares to the road he has laid for us and the journey he means to take us on.
The construction continues and at times it hurts, but it’s part of the glorious process that makes us His masterpiece.
Psalm 27:13-14
“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!”
His goodness will be seen in our lives, whether we are stopped in traffic or out on the open road. His goodness will be seen, even if we cannot see it just yet.