Builders of Buildings

Athens, is a place of layers. You walk the streets leading up to the Parthenon and see underground. Along the sidewalks are pieces of plexiglass that allow you to see the excavations under the city. Literally, you could see centuries of history being uncovered by the archaeologists. Above the street, you would see scaffolding and cranes helping to erect new buildings, because cities are ever changing and growing. You walk thru history while being enticed by the future. 

Did you know that we as believers in Christ are also to be builders? We are to be repairers of broken walls and restorers of streets with dwellings. This can be found in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah was a profit to the people of Judah before the Babylonian exile. Isaiah is also attributed with foretelling the coming of a Messiah to save the Jewish people. He also talks about a time when all Jewish people will return to Jerusalem, a city they have lost because of disobedience. When they come back, they will fix the walls and homes of their former home. 

When the Israelites were given permission to rebuild their homeland by the Assyrian king (who took over for the Babylonian one) this prophecy of rebuilding Jerusalem was fulfilled. Later, the city of Jerusalem was overtaken by Rome and the Jewish people were once again under the authority of a foreign power. 

Living in a fallen world with suffering has left me bereft of the once beautiful city I had created in my mind. Where once there was innocence and beauty, I was left instead with shame and broken pieces. Where I had had safety and protection, the walls of my boundaries had been shattered by the cannon fodder of those more powerful than me. With words and actions my city of refuge became a desolate wasteland where only scavengers lived. 

We can start the process of rebuilding and of repairing what has been torn down and broken now. Through holding spaces for people with questions. By sharing and listening to each others stories. When we take steps to forgive in our hearts what feels impossible for us to forgive on our own, we are laying the first bricks down for a new wall. When we stand amid the rubble of broken dreams, we can see potential for a new vision to come out of what was discarded. When we surrender our plan and desire to the Great Architect's blueprint, we can rest in knowing we don't work alone. That we can follow the steps already laid out for us.

Just like Israel, we have hope that one day the city will be restored. That we will be restored. Not in any way that is of our own power. But thru surrendering the broken and shameful places of ourselves that have been attacked by the enemy. When we are returned to our homeland, to the place where we can be fully healed and protected, then we can join with our Father God as the walls are repaired and the streets are restored.