Monday, August 16, 2010

Do you have some crumbling ruins?

I don't know about you, but I've lived long enough and spent too many years of that time away from God to have created some major ruins in my life. When I hear the word ruins, I imagine some old city out in the middle of the desert with crumbling walls where owls and coyotes make their homes. Some place that in its former day was green and new and beautiful and bustling with people and prosperity, but some calamity befell it and now after years of neglect, it is just a pile of rocks.

Do you ever feel like that is your legacy? Like you've made so many mistakes in life that all you've left behind is a wreck heap? Well, I've often felt that way. I spent years way from God doing "my own thing", thinking that I knew better than my Creator what was best for me. Yea, right. How dumb is that? So, when I look back at my life, here 's what I see.  The crumbling wall of a failed marriage, a rock heap of ruined relationships, the dried up garden filled with weeds where children and grandchildren should be growing like strong vines, and a pile of trash filled with regrets and shame. 

There's nothing I can do about my ruins now. What happened was in the past. What I did has been forgiven. I can't go back. I must learn to live with the consequences of my actions. I must learn to live with my ruins.

But then....  I came across these verses in Isaiah

And the Lord shall guide you continually and satisfy you in drought and in dry places and make strong your bones. And you shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not.
And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of buildings that have laid waste for many generations; and you shall be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Streets to Dwell In. Isaiah 58: 11-12


And they shall rebuild the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former desolations and renew the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. Isaiah 61:4


And it hit me, God doesn't leave those ancient ruins there to rot. Maybe He leaves them there for a time to remind us that we need Him, to remind us of our mistakes so we never want to go back. But after we are past the point where we'll ever turn away from God and where we are wallking close with Him, He begins a rennovation project that will blow you away! He takes all that mess you created and creates a new city, a new legacy for you from the ashes.
You know what, I'm looking back on my ruins now, and I'm starting to see my Father picking up the pieces and rebuilding that city of my life the way He intended it to be. He started in my heart. He's working on my family, and He's moved me into His will for my life.  It's going to be a beautiful city!
 
And He can do the same for you!

6 comments:

  1. Thank you.
    What a mess we humans make, I know I have destroyed so many things. I hate not being able to take it back. I thought God wouldn't want someone as vile as me.
    ~Abigail

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  2. Monday, Aug 16th,
    Thanks so much, MaryLu ... for those reminders. Yes, I can certainly identify with what you shared !!! I too, for a season in my life .... walked away from God ... and "did it my way" !!! Big ... huge ... mistake !!!! And yes, sometimes I still re-visit the 'memories' of that past ... but, I no longer remain there. I am forgiven too, and "He" has forgotten .... and now ... that I should do the same !!!
    I so very much appreciate -- your sharing in forthrigtness, honesty, and directness; and I absolutely appreciate your positivity too !!! Yes, "it's going to be a beautiful city !" Amen to that !
    Thanks, and have a wonderful day !
    Take care, and, God Bless,
    In Him, Brenda Hurley

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  3. Debbie Mitchell debsbunch5@jesusanswers.comAugust 16, 2010 at 9:54 AM

    Keep it coming, MaryLu! You will never know the 'true' impact your words have on others lives....I've noticed the time you posted this. Are you always up that late or do you get inspired and just get up and start writing?

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  4. Abigail, bless your heart. You are precisely the type of precious person God desires. Someone with a humble and contrite heart.
    Yes, Brenda, how silly we were for walking away from God and creating these ruins in the first place. Thank God, He's in the buisness of restoration! Debbie, I usually write these posts during the previous week when I hear a word from the Lord or He leads me to write about a specific topic, but I schedule them to go up at 4:00 AM PST on Monday since that's 7:00 AM out east. NO.. I am not up that early! LOL

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  5. Amen, MaryLu. What a wonderful promise. I know that even in my relatively short life, I've committed some sins that I regret. Some of these I'm still struggling to overcome. But something I've been reminded of lately is that His grace IS sufficient for me, and I know that with that is the promise that He can make all things new in me. In the Bible, both David and Rahab and several others had some awful ruins in their lives, but God still took them and used them, and now I look back on what they did and I find encouragement in that God forgave them and helped them to move on, and that He still used them. I have hope that He can do that with me also.

    ~Sasafras

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  6. MaryLu...thank you for this post. I really loved those verses from Isaiah. I've heard Beth Moore quote them in one of her Bible studies... I love how God can take ashes and turn them into beauty...He really can, if we will let Him. Nothing is impossible for God :) :) Love and hugs from Oregon, Heather :)

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