We spend so much time trying to pour our lives into a mold of our own making; a mold that makes sense to us. As we walk through life we are literally gathering information about ourselves and storing it so we can use it to make life work.
Our culture says, "Live and let live." Sounds good, right? Follow your heart. No boundaries. No morality. Just do whatever makes you happy today.
But what about tomorrow?
What if you feel differently tomorrow?
What then?
If making up the rules as you go and aiming to fulfill every appetite you have is supposed to make you happy and free, then why are we so sad and angry and lost and medicated? Why do we, even as believers, make happiness our goal? It's such a low bar.
Unless the Lord builds the house,
the builders labor in vain. Psalm 127:1(a) NIV
Is He; building the house I mean? Ask yourself, what are you aiming for and what are you willing to give up to get it? It's a sobering question. I, personally, have been trying to pour myself into a mold of comfort for years. It's so futile and as far away from what I was created for as I can get.
We have a tendency to mold ourselves into something that's either desirable to us or to others who see us. What we build is temporary, like a sandcastle on the beach made to be beautiful one day and it's washed away the next.
It's evident by the looks of things that we were never meant to make ourselves happy, nor were we meant to fill ourselves with hope. It's logical to conclude that an inventor knows best how to operate his invention, yet when it comes to us, we think we know better than our Creator. This unattainable desire to be happy has caused us to grow weary and lose focus. We spin our wheels trying to make sure that we, and our loved ones, have everything we want and whatever we think we need—as if our very lives depend on it. What are we doing?
“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness
and who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were cut. . . ." Isa 51:1 CSB
[Jesus said] For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:38, 40 NKJV
Jesus came so we don't have to try to build our own house over and over again.
We've spent the past few weeks in the first part of Peter's letter to God's chosen people. He unpacked for us what it means to have real hope, a living hope that's set fully on His grace. A priceless inheritance; salvation. And trials, yes trials, they cause us to have genuine faith and through them we are being transformed into His likeness. That beloved brings joy. And happiness, well, that can't hold a candle to the joy of the Lord.
Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow up into your salvation, if you have tasted that the Lord is good. 1 Peter 2:2-3 CSB
Before I met Jesus, I never even thought of opening a Bible. It meant nothing to me. Now I crave God's word. I love the ebb and flow of the dance; He leads, we follow. It's a beautiful dance that moves us toward oneness with Him.
As you come to him, a living stone—rejected by people but chosen and honored by God—you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture:
See, I lay a stone in Zion,a chosen and honored cornerstone,and the one who believes in himwill never be put to shame.
So honor will come to you who believe; but for the unbelieving,
The stone that the builders rejected—this one has become the cornerstone,
and
A stone to stumble over,and a rock to trip over.
They stumble because they disobey the word; they were destined for this.
1 Peter 2:4-8 CSB
God is not looking for those He has to force to follow Him. Pastor Lloyd Ogilvie once wrote, "God continues to work with His world, allowing freedom, but persistently seeking to accomplish His perfect will among those who would respond and will to do His will."
So what does God's desire for you? Surrender. Fall on Him in repentance and allow Him to reshape you into a living stone; immovable, unshakable, and perfectly molded to fit into His castle. A castle built on Rock, not sand—in a Kingdom that can never be destroyed.
We are being built, not to seek happiness, but to offer ourselves fully to God; allowing Him to align our will with His. Think of the wonders of what He will do with a people who seek to know and do His will.
Are you like a sandcastle, being eroded and washed away by the waves of life? Maybe it's time to look to the Rock?
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