The House He’s Building

The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD: He is their strength in the time of trouble.

Psalm 37:39

Years ago, before Josh McDowell was the well-known speaker and author he is today, he joined the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ. At the ministry headquarters, he received his first assignment: washing the floors in the lobby. Although he thought he was going to be working with the ministry’s leaders, he was relegated to watching them walk by as he scrubbed the floors they were walking on. Later, he said it was one of the most important lessons he ever learned: it takes preparation to be used by God.

Moses learned that lesson, spending forty years in the Midian wilderness as a shepherd before leading his countrymen out of Egypt. Jesus spent forty days in the Judean wilderness before being commissioned for ministry at the Jordan River. Difficult periods of preparation are God’s way of saying, “Only I know what you need to know to be successful. Trust Me.” The psalmist says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it” (Psalm 127:1).

If you’re going through a difficult time right now, trust the Lord. You are the house He is building, and you need whatever you’re learning as you wait on Him.

A season of suffering is a small price to pay for a clear view of God.

MAX LUCADO^a