“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8
Six-year old Danny loved drawing houses on his sketchpad. Time and again, his mother looks at his new drawings and praises him for being so detailed in his artwork. Danny’s mom said he should be an architect so he could make his drawings come to life. In those moments Danny’s dream to be an architect was born.
While architects do an amazing job in building projects, their scope of work is usually limited to the planning phase. After conceptualizing the design of the structure, He needs to pass on the work to an engineer, to see through the whole construction process.
Like a building project, followers of Jesus like us, can be likened to a structure that is a work in progress. As Christians, we are creations of a God who sees through our conception, birth, childhood, developmental phases, grey or thinning hair phase, up until our last breath.
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Psalm 139:13-16
Unlike a building architect who passes on work to another teammate, our Creator did not just design us to be humans and left us on our own or to others to figure out how to do life. He remains to be with us through our whole existence. And if we will just allow Him, He will transform us into the best person He has planned us to be.
Our transformation starts when we acknowledge that His words are truth and life-giving. He gave it to us to be the manual that will guide us on how to best live our life on Earth. Likewise, He also invites us into fellowship with Him, so He can guide us the rest of the way.
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Joshua 1:8
The problem though is when we start thinking that we can do things on our own. When we disregard the Bible, and just see it as a book we need to read for 5-10 minutes a day, or worse, as a decoration on our shelves. When we start believing that we can do everything and resolve all things through our own strength, and rely on others and ourselves to get us out of life’s inevitable difficulties.
When we start drawing away from Him and decide to walk in the ways of the world, we will no longer get to become the best version of ourselves. Instead, we slowly go down a pit of destruction, and could even bring down others along with us.
“The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.” Proverbs 4:19
But when we entrust our lives to Him, and build our character upon His teachings, we will realize that our life can be joyful despite trials and challenges. We will finally see His hand in both the good and bad times we go through, and we will no longer seek comfort, security, and stability from the wrong things and the wrong crowd.
“You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11
More than the best contractor ever, Our Lord will be there for us even after we have found ourselves secure and stable in His love. Because we still live in a fallen world and we are still bound to fail, He knows we will still need Him. And so He remains present to help us out for our soul’s repair, renovation, refurbishment, and even repurposing. If in the event, we fall into destruction and we will need to demolish and rebuild, He will be there as well helping us endure through the whole process.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Revelation 22:13
When we hold this truth in our hearts, we can be confident to live a life of worship, seek His forgiveness when we fall, and encourage others to surrender their lives to Him.
Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to ponder on Psalm 139 and Ephesians 3:17-19 to dig deeper on today’s topic.
Reflection Question: Do you ever doubt God’s presence in your life?
Conversation with the Lord: Heavenly Father, help me recognize your presence in all seasons of my life. Help me see your outstretched arm when my life is difficult. And help me recognize your hand in the graces that I receive, and your warm smile when my life is filled with joy. Amen.
