Trusting and Building

My wife and I are building a house.  This is actually the second time we have done so.  In 2006 we built our home in Ellabell, thinking it would be the place we would retire. But God had other plans, and so here we are in Shellman Bluff.

            We looked at several existing homes, but none were exactly what we wanted.  And so we made the decision to build.  We wondered if that was the best thing for us.  Building a house is a challenge.  It can put a strain on you in many ways. 

            At the same time, it is also very exciting. Today they are putting the roof rafters up.  The hope is to have roof decking in place by the end of the week.  And doors and windows will soon be in place. In other words, it’s looking more and more like a house.  We still don’t know when we will be living there, but we are closer than we were last month.

            Anxiety.  Anticipation.  Words that are poles apart, and yet they both describe what we are feeling.  We anticipate living in a beautiful place that we helped to design.  My wife will have her own piano room. I will have a sunroom.  But we are anxious about things that we have to do in the meantime. Pick out lights and fans and flooring options and cabinets, and the list goes on, seemingly forever. And of course, someone has to pay for the place. 

            The Bible says, “Be anxious about nothing…”  Can I be blunt? That is a difficult task.  Nothing?  But there are so many reasons to be anxious. Can we realistically be anxious about nothing?

            That is where the rest of the verse applies. “Be anxious about nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”  The secret is not to bear down harder, or to be stronger or wiser. The answer is to talk to God, and then trust in Him.  Even while building a house in the midst of a pandemic.  Trust in the Lord. He is always trustworthy.  He will not fail you.