Under Construction: Lessons From a Pumpkin PatchSample

The Construction Zone

Do you get as frustrated and impatient as I do when entering a construction zone? The lanes narrow, and traffic slows, sometimes coming to a complete halt. If you're like me, you don’t like slowing down or being delayed. We need to get where we are going—and now!

How tempting it can be to have the same mindset when it comes to our growth in the Lord. As we know from planting a garden or flowerbed, however, growth is something that just can’t be rushed.

The apostle Paul knew that growth and maturity in the Lord took time and shared two things that can help us in our growth process: 1) he acknowledged he had not arrived and still had room to grow and 2) he determined that he would press on.

I am reminded of the chorus of an old song: “He’s still working on me, to make me what I ought to be. It took Him just a week to make the moon and stars, the sun and the earth, and Jupiter and Mars. How loving and patient He must be, He’s still working on me!" ("He's Still Working on Me" by Joel Hemphill)

In fact, one day after reaching the end of road construction, detours, and slow traffic, Billy and Ruth Graham saw a sign that simply stated, "End of construction. Thanks for your patience.” In Billy Graham’s book, Nearing Home, he details what Ruth chose to write on her tombstone, inspired by that very sign: “End of construction - thank you for your patience.”

Friends, our “construction” will come to an end one day. But until then, let’s acknowledge we, too, have not arrived, but we will press on. Why? Because we can confidently proclaim along with the song's chorus, "He's still working on me!"