I started a thing and now it's a thing. Ever done that?
The black edging in our garden was in bad shape. It was lifting in places, totally buried by grass in others and had been run over by the lawn mower a few times. Time for a change. I had some wedge-shaped landscaping bricks in the backyard that I decided to repurpose to replace the garden border. It took me a couple of Saturdays but I was really pleased with the transformation. Tidy and zero cost.
Somewhere along the way I realized (but pretended I didn't) that the edging continued all the way up the side of the house... like 80 more feet of it. There wasn't a logical place to stop the bricks and the side garden was looking unkempt as well so... the thing I started became a much bigger project than I realized when I laid that first brick. It's going to cost me something - some money, some time, some back pain. And I can already tell that it's the right decision, even if I can only do about 10 bricks at a time.
And so, I've made a plan. I'm not going to try to accomplish it in a sprint. I will work on one section at a time. I am removing a few feet of border at a time, digging out the rocks, pouring in pea gravel, leveling the brick I'm on and repeating about 100 more times.
Here's what I've observed:
I don't have to do everything at the same time.
When I look at how much I have left, I get overwhelmed. When I look at the brick I'm on, I place it well and am excited for the final product.
While I'm woking on each small section of the garden, I'm able to take care of other things that are happening in that section - weeds, splitting hostas, mulch that needs to be moved or added - and take care of it in much better detail.
I’m making progress.
I know you’re already understanding this analogy. My life in Christ is not just for today and tomorrow. It’s for the rest of my life here on earth and for eternity. The full and abundant life that is transformed by Christ happens day by day, step by step, verse by verse, prayer by prayer. When we stop looking at the 80 feet of garden that we haven’t mastered yet (all that we don’t know, the people who seem to be way ahead of us…) we won’t be able to cooperate with the work the Holy Spirit is calling us to today and the stuff that is right in front of us. We get overwhelmed and tempted to give up.
But there is joy and beauty in staying in step with the Spirit. So what is in front of you today? What is He speaking to your heart through the Word or whispering in your ear as you work or giving you as truth to exchange for a lie you’re believing? Lay that brick today. Tomorrow, lay another one. Wednesday, do it again. He will empower you for each brick and He will be faithful to finish what He starts in you.
With you in the long obedience in the same direction,
Pastor Tracy
“...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
I started a thing…
…that became a thing.
This Sunday
(YOUR) WORLD PEACE
Peace in a Fearful World
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