A Norvell Note

Vol. 28 No. 4 

1-22-24

Under Construction

Driving through our neighborhood and the surrounding community, you will see construction. Houses, apartments, businesses, schools, and a senior living center are being constructed. In the fifteen months since we moved into our neighborhood, we have seen the area change dramatically. You are seeing the same growth in your area. 

I look at the new streets, concrete slabs, and wooden frames and wonder what they will be. As the construction progresses, the buildings take shape, and it becomes clear. 

The same curiosity exists when I look at people.

A baby is born, and I wonder what she will be. She grows and matures and eventually takes her place in the adult world. 

When a young man graduates from high school, some are amazed, some are confident that he will do well. But no one knows for sure. 

You watch a young person receive her degree and walk off the stage into the world of professionals, hoping and praying that she will thrive. 

A couple stands before God, family, and friends, filled with dreams and plans. We don’t know what kind of marriage they will have or if they will survive. 

Before the first shovel of dirt is moved, we, as observers, try to imagine what the completed structure will look like, what it will be. Whether I know or can envision the finished product is not important. The builder knows.

Before a human being takes a breath, we try to imagine who and what they will be. The one who knows for sure what a building will look like and what it will be when it is completed in the builder. The Creator is the only One who knows what a person will be. That’s what is important. 

He knows who I am, where I am, who I will be, and where I will be. That’s good enough for me. 

“God, investigate my life;
    get all the facts firsthand.
I’m an open book to you;
    even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking.
You know when I leave and when I get back;
    I’m never out of your sight.
You know everything I’m going to say
    before I start the first sentence.
I look behind me and you’re there,
    then up ahead and you’re there, too—
    your reassuring presence, coming and going.
This is too much, too wonderful—
    I can’t take it all in! (Psalm 139:1-6)

Tom

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