I’d griped for weeks, ever since I first saw the sign that the Craggy Bridge over the French Broad River would be closed for several weeks. We live out in the country and that’s my favorite back way into town since traffic is often a mess on the main roads.
When construction started, it was as bad as I’d imagined. More cars were now funneled onto the already busy main roads, adding 30 minutes or longer each way. It didn’t help that I’d leave home each time forgetting that the bridge was closed, meaning that I’d get almost to it and would then have to detour, adding even more time.
I griped some more as I knew it would be weeks before the bridge opened again. It seemed like it took forever. But my first drive over the repaired bridge was eye-opening.
The old one had been filled with potholes, and I’d often bumped my way across it to the stop sign. The sidewalks had been crumbling, and I’m sure there had been safety issues under the bridge that I couldn’t see—like deteriorating concrete and rusting metal.
Now, riding over it feels like driving across silk because it’s so smooth. Not a pothole anywhere. The structure is safer and looks so much nicer. The construction and repairs made it worth every minute I’d had to detour.
And that’s when God whispered, “It’s exactly the same way for My children. Sometimes I have to shut you down for repairs so I can make you a better Christian.”
Our Father sees those safety issues, the flaws in us that will keep us from serving Him at full capacity. So He puts up His “Under Construction” sign and goes to work, strengthening the areas that are weak and filling the potholes in our lives with His grace and forgiveness.
And we often gripe as we go through those times, fussing as we think God’s forgotten us, that He doesn’t care. But he puts us under construction because He does care about us—and the final result is worth it, to experience His new and improved version of us.
Does God have you under construction today? Are you going through tough times? Then rest assured that He’s making something strong and beautiful out of you.
Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6 )
