How's Your House Doing?

As I look out the window today, I realize summer is slowly beginning to turn towards fall!

Now that I am a great-grand-Mimi, my mind once again drifts to some of the fairytales that I told to my kids and grandkids. It seems to me that the famous trio known as The Three Little Pigs are a lot like some of us in our walk through life.

For example, the first little pig built his house of straw. For us, that could speak about the fact that we often seek a “quick fix” with God every day so we can get on with living our life! Not preparing for spiritual growth, relationships, or responsibility. We just want the blessings. Rather than sowing in the Spirit and investing deeply in our spiritual lives, we look for a superficial solution that will carry us through our busy lives. However, our heavenly Father desires the true richness and blessings for us that only true intimacy with Him can bring. We bring Him great pleasure as we learn to find our greatest pleasure in Him.

The second little pig built his house of sticks. One could equate that house to our neatly laid plans placed all in a row in terms of our own security and success. It is very true that we need to plan for the future, but we must still make sure to remain under the guidance of the Holy Spirit in order to truly realize who we are in God and experience the fullest degree of the life and future He has for us. Proverbs 19:21 (Amplified Version) reminds us, "Many plans are in a man's mind, but it is the Lord's purpose for him that will stand." We think we know what we want and need, but He alone knows what is the best for today, tomorrow, and the rest of our days!

After all, how can we "grow" our faith without testing? Or develop patience with no burdens to bear? Or truly experience life without the pain and hurts it throws at us? As we trust Him to reveal and guide us in His highest will, we find our highest level of fulfillment, and we see Him glorified in the highest degree.

The third little pig built his house of bricks — one brick at a time. Yes, a solid foundation, cemented together. This might mean, for us, that we find our lives established on a sure foundation through a vital relationship with the Lord, built on a reliance on God's promises to us and on the lessons He has taught us through past experiences — lessons that have birthed true faith, trust and hope in us.

Hope is that strong thread that must constantly flow in our lives in order to keep us connected as we go through life. And what is hope? As Gerry has shared numerous times, hope is the constant expectation of what God has said He will do!

Remember, even a broken clock is right twice a day. So keep hoping, keep believing, and keep trusting. What He promised to you WILL HAPPEN! Maybe not today, nor even tomorrow, but in His time.

I want to leave you with a lovely set of verses that serve as an encouragement to all of us to rejoice continually when we face the challenges of each day:

Last night I heard a robin singing in the rain,

And the raindrop’s patter made a sweet refrain,

Making all the sweeter the music of the strain.

So, I thought, when trouble comes, as trouble will,

Why should I stop singing? Just behind the hill

It may be that sunshine floods the green world still.

He who faces the trouble with a heart of cheer

Makes the burden lighter. If there falls a tear,

Sweeter is the cadence in the song we hear.

I have learned your lesson, bird with dappled wing,

Listening to your music, with its lilt of spring —

When the storm-cloud darkens, then's the time to sing.

~ Eben E. Rexford