Unseen

It was a great Sunday! For the first time in 11 months we met together last week as a church family in our newly renovated sanctuary. This day coincided with the church's 50th anniversary celebration to make for a wonderful day of fellowship, the proclamation of His grace and a unified declaration of "to God be the glory". This past December our church had suffered extensive damage to the portion of our church building that houses our sanctuary and fellowship hall when a very strong storm hit the north Oregon coast.

Although the repairs to the church were not 100% complete, the church looked wonderful. Following the storm last December, the church had sections of its roof lying in a nearby field. Because of the roof damage, rain water had poured into the church getting allot of things wet. Wet carpet. Wet sheet rock. Wet insulation. Wet wood framing. Things remained wet for many weeks. But now there was a new roof. New siding on portions of the building. New paint on the outside. New carpet. New chairs. New sheet rock and paint on the inside.

As the weeks and months had passed following the storm, we had many opportunities to reflect and thank God for how He had provided through it all. He had provided a general contractor to oversee the job and a responsive insurance company to provide the needed funds. He provided a local grade school as our meeting place for a short time before we were allowed to return to a separate portion of our building that was not damaged. Lessons were taught and hopefully learned regarding our great God and His ability to deal with our difficulties, no matter how great. But if we don't take some time to consider this matter further we may miss out on an opportunity to learn an invaluable lesson.

You see, if you had been in the church last December during the storm, or if you had been at our anniversary celebration this past Sunday, you would not have been able to see the real problem. Sure, in the days following the storm you could see the results of the storm caused by the wind and the rain. And last Sunday you could see the new roof, siding, paint, floor coverings, chairs, etc. But there were other things wrong that contributed to the damage and caused the lengthy time of the repairs. And this is where we find a great spiritual truth for us to ponder. The problems that would take months to correct were hidden under the metal roof, behind the siding and behind the sheet rock. There had been structural damage. There had been movement to the building that compromised its integrity.

The foundation of the church had not been moved. But starting at the foundation and proceeding upward, the building lacked the necessary strength to endure the storm better than it had. The repairs included large metal brackets that would better connect the building to its foundation. Behind the sheet rock, blocking after blocking would be placed between the wall framing and floor joists, giving added strength to each member. Shear walls would be installed with hundreds, if not thousands of nails, providing tremendous strength to the walls of the church. Plywood sheathing would cover the entire roof, tying all of the roof framing together before the new metal roof would cover it. Together, these "unseen" things would make the church building much stronger than it had ever been before. When and if a similar storm assails our church building in the future, I suspect that it is prepared to weather the storm much better. Not because of the things you can see on the outside, but because of the hidden things you can't see.

And how about you and I? Are we prepared to weather the storms of life? Will we be moved in a manner that compromizes our integrity? How firm a foundation we have in Christ! In 1 Corinthians 3:11 Paul wrote, "For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ". But the apostle was also inspired to caution us to be careful how we build upon the solid foundation that is ours in Christ.

As I looked at all of the people who filled the sanctuary and balcony last Sunday, I wondered how they had built upon their saving faith in Christ. Oh, on the outside they looked grand in their "Sunday go to meeting clothes". But I wondered how much blocking had been installed. How many shear walls had been erected with a sufficient amount of nails? Did they have a strong layer of sheathing protecting them? How were they weathering the storms of life? How many had not built cautiously and had already suffered great damage? How many families had already been torn apart because of it? What impact did it all have on the body of Christ? How many were in a state of ruin? How many were in the process of repairing and rebuilding? I was thankful for those who had built carefully, adding strength to the body of Christ. I am prayerful for those who have suffered harm or those who are struggling to rebuild.

In his farewell to the Ephesian elders, as recorded for us in Acts 20:32, the Apostle Paul said, "And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up". There are many of what I would call "disciplines of the faith" that God has provided us for the building up of the members of His body. His word, fellowship with other believers, prayer and each member fulfilling his part in the body are essential in the installation of spiritual blocking, shear walls and sheathing. We will not escape the storms of life, but by His gracious provisions we can be strong and weather them well.

Father, help us to understand the seriousness of this matter. May we sobermindedly build upon the foundation of our faith in Christ. May we look to your word, your people and yourself for the spiritual blocking, shear walls and sheathing that will keep us strong when the storms of life come upon us, our families and our churches. May we go to the word of your grace to be built up. We acknowledge the great truth of your provisions as spoken by the Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 1:3 where we read, "seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence." It is your divine power that is our strength. As only you can, I ask that you would help those brothers and sisters in Christ who have not weathered well the storms of life. Despite ourselves, we thank you for Jesus, the One who is immoveable, our rock and the foundation of our faith.