"The Builder"

"The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel." (Psalms 147:2)

  If you could only see what this looks like from God's perspective, it might stop you from doubting what it is that hurts you, is not really part of your pleasure to come. Don't ask, I really don't know what the heck I am saying: sometimes, I just type random words without even thinking what they might mean. (Just a little inside information!) Actually, I feel as though God is trying to show me something about what I know with the type of repairs that I do, which really does not require a Building Contractors License, because my License is based upon repair to parts of existing structures, not based upon building something new. Although I do have a Contractors License, I just don't use it to do what I do. As a matter of fact, when I do apply for a permit, I do not even need to give them plans or a even a plot plan; I just give them a copy of my Report and pay their required fees based upon the cost of repairs. Anywho; a lot of what I do is repairs that can be done with scrapes; small pieces of left over lumber, a little bit of this and a little bit of that. We hardly ever through away anything that is longer than two feet; and a half of a sheet of siding could be used for a $300.00 repair. I guess what I am trying to say, Lord willing, is that God will sometimes work in the exact same way! We really can't see this from our point of view, especially when we might be a part of the scraps; but sometimes the scrape is exactly what is required to fill in the missing piece! If you are a builder, of any sort, then you know exactly what I am talking about. The thing that brought me to this thought, is the meaning of the word, "outcasts," which is actually a word that means to throw down. You would not believe the effort I will go through sometimes to save a piece of material that has been thrown down by one of the guys doing the repairs. They laugh at my efforts, until I explain how a two foot piece of lumber could actually be used for a $300.00 repair under a house. A one foot piece of a 4" x 4" could actually be a couple hundred dollar repair to a girder support! A piece of scrape, is not scape if it still has a purpose; so we really should not throw it down as if it has no value; neither does God discount those that are outcast: every single one of us have value and are part of the Builder's plan! More incredible than that, God might have been the One that threw down the scrape; but He is also the One that picks it back up and uses it again, for something special...

"For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united the Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of the law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God's holy people. You are members of God's family. Together, we are his house built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself." (Ephesians 2:14-20) NLT