My sister and brother-in-law are building a house.
My sister and brother-in-law are building a house with a plan that began with a dream and a sketch.
My sister and brother-in-law are building a house that comprises three levels.
My sister and brother-in-law are building a house that is filled with concrete walls and wooden studs.
My sister and brother-in-law are building a house that is going to be beautiful.
My sister and brother-in-law are building a house that will one day soon be a place where our family will congregate, will act silly, will share stories, will make memories, and will be a house filled with love, concern, and care for one another. 
My sister and brother-in-law are building a house, one where the loft could not be built BEFORE the foundation.

NO, the poured, concrete basement had to be formed and poured……..

FIRST…..BEFORE the walls,   &
FIRST…..BEFORE the subfloor,   &
FIRST…..BEFORE the studded walls,   &
FIRST…..BEFORE the stairway leading to the loft above the kitchen.

My sister and brother-in-law are building a house.

Do we ever face moments in life, ones when we just don’t understand why a situation is occurring?
Do we ever just wish to throw our hands into the air and exclaim, “Why LORD?  WHY?
Do we ever just wonder if this vessel (our body) can withstand the turmoil, the struggles, the anxieties, the stressors, and the calamities often brought to us during our lifetime?
Do we ever just want to say out loud, “God, are you there?
Do You see what’s going on in my life?
God, can You please lend me a hand OR can You change my situation?”

When we feel all alone within the world, do we ever really just wonder where God is in all this—–IN OUR SITUATION?
The Bible assures us that God has not moved.
The Bible promises that God will provide for our needs.
The Bible calms our wavering hearts and leads us to turn our eyes upon Jesus.
The Bible reminds us that God’s Holy Spirit never leaves us and that God has never moved away from His place..
Truly, the Bible is God’s Love Letter to Humanity.
The Bible reveals our sins, reminding us to confess and repent, showing us how it is US who has moved away from our Father.
The Bible allows us to remember that we are a building in progress, a vessel formed by God hands, that even when we do not understand all things……STILL, THE MASTER CARPENTER IS AT WORK WITHIN US, MAKING US INTO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON…..JESUS……COMPLETING IN US A WORK THAT BEGAN AT OUR SALVATION. 
Thank You God for Your Salvation. 
Thank You God for building us, for working within us, and for creating a work within us to prepare our vessel, to make us ready to come home.
Help us LORD to always remember that we are each just a building in progress.
Help us LORD to recall that You are the Master Carpenter, that it is YOU who holds the blueprint of our lives, that it is YOU who has numbered our days before there was even one.
Help us LORD to remember Your words to us through Your prophet Isaiah.

“For My thoughts [God’s] are not your thoughts [our thoughts—yours & mine],
Nor are your ways [our way of doing our own things]…..My ways [God’s ways are So Much Higher],”  declares the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

(Isaiah 55:8-9)

Truly, our life plans are mere sketches, possibly ones sketched upon table napkins.
Truly, our plans are so futile, so much NOT perfect when compared to the masterplan God has designed and builds within us.
Truly, God’s plan, His way…..IS THE RIGHT PLAN, THE RIGHT WAY.
Most definitely, God’s thoughts are so much higher than our thoughts.
Truly, there is NEVER a mistake when we allow God’s Holy Spirit to lead us, to sustain us, and to keep us on the right path and going in the right direction. 
Truly, our home with God will be a Perfect Dwelling.
Truly, our house cannot be built without a secure foundation; we need God’s Salvation…..YES, we need to confess Jesus Christ as Savior FIRST. 
It is then that God will begin to build us, to create within us a sweet dwelling place.
One day, we will step into heaven—-into God’s paradise—–into our Master’s presence. Until then, we may not always understand the WHYs, WHENs, &  HOWs……BUT WE ARE CALLED TO KEEP OUR EYES UPON JESUS, THE MASTER CARPENTER. 

Finally, the apostle Paul reminds us in his letter to the believers living in Philippi—-
“For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure”  (Philippians 2:13).
We can do nothing without God, but God can do EVERYTHING, what we can NEVER DO!!!
Father, Help us keep our eyes upon Jesus.
Help us God be malleable (changeable) within Your Hands.
Help us LORD know it is always YOU who is at work in us.
Today…..we pause to say, “Thank You God for laying Your foundation; Thank You for building each one of us to be as You would have us be.”  Amen.