“Yes, I would like to start at the third floor. I don’t understand why you have an issue with that. I don’t like basements — they are so dark, dank, and unpleasant. The first floor isn’t much better — right in the noise of the street and even the second floor still has that smell of exhaust. So, the third floor will do nicely. Let’s just skip the others and start at the third floor.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand. You want to skip the foundations and the first two floors of your building?”
“Yes. I don’t intend to use them anyway. Please, let’s just start building at the third floor.”
“So….can we at least put girders, columns, or some other structure under the building to hold it up?”
“Nope. Just start at the third floor.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Listen, if you can’t start with the third floor, I’ll give my business to a firm who can. This is, after all, the twenty-first century — get it done! My last building had a few levels below grade and then a first and second floor and I didn’t like what I found there at all. So, this time I’m not going to make that mistake again! Seriously, let’s skip it this time.”
“Umm….”
You may not like where you came from. You may not like your baggage, your history, or your experiences. Your foundations may be dark, ugly, rocky, and rugged. Your story may be littered with garbage, defeat, and things you would rather forget.
You may want to start building your new life in Christ starting at the third floor — away from your past, above the noise and stress of daily life, and beyond the influence of everything that came before.
That is why Jesus explained starting your new life with this analogy,
“I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.” – Luke 6
Being born again gives you power over your past — victory in place of your defeats, joy in place of the ugliness, peace in place of the struggle, abundance in place of lack, vision in place of darkness, confidence in place of fear, and so much more.
Being born again is a revolution of mind and heart, an acceptance of who you truly are and what you truly can become.
Being born again is a connection and a relationship with your creator and savior, an unleashing of your destiny, and the realization of your potential.
Being born again is a complete renovation of the life that you have lived, overhauling your past with your present and your future.
Being born again is the opportunity to convert your heap of ruins, baggage, garbage, and mistakes into the foundations for your eternal life.
You can’t change the past, but you can change your relationship with the past.
You can’t undo what has been done to you, but you can change what it means for you.
You can’t go back and make different decisions, but you can make the decision to change how it defines you moving forward.
This is what Jesus was talking about when He explained the importance of digging down to the solid rock and laying your foundations at the most basic level.
When the worst that life has to offer happens, you don’t want to be living in a house that was started on the third floor.
You need a life with a foundation — a foundation that is rooted firmly below grade, in the dark, on the rock of Jesus Christ. And to build that foundation you have to be unafraid to dig through the dirt to construct it.
You don’t have to run away anymore. You don’t have to be afraid anymore. You don’t have to be defeated by who you were or what you did or what happened to you anymore.
God is ready to convert your worst memories, your darkest hours, your biggest defeats, your poorest decisions, and your greatest weaknesses into your most powerful foundations and your most effective leverage.
The Bible tells the story of a man named Gideon who defended his country from a large scale invasion by a foreign power. The invading army numbered about 135,000 and Gideon’s defenders were seriously outnumbered at only about 32,000. With odds like those it wasn’t looking good for Gideon and his little army, but God told Gideon,
“Go with the strength you have… I am sending you!” – Judges 6
But then, as he set out to do what God asked of him, God gave him one seriously counter-intuitive command, He told Gideon that his little outnumbered band of defenders was too big! He had Gideon send home everyone who felt afraid or had doubts about their ability to achieve the victory, leaving Gideon with only 10,000 soldiers to take on the 135,000 oncoming attackers. And still, God told Gideon that his army was too big! God had Gideon continue shrinking his force until he only had 300 left to take on the invading horde. 300 against 135,000 — not exactly the recipe for success that Gideon was looking for! But God used those 300 to achieve the victory and drive the invader from the land as those 300 surrounded the enemy and cast them out with a trumpet blast and a shout,
“For the LORD and for Gideon!” – Judges 7
Perhaps what is most interesting about Gideon is that while Gideon achieved a truly astonishing victory, Gideon lacked confidence. Throughout the story Gideon had to be convinced again and again that God was truly calling him to achieve the victory and save his country. And even then, Gideon himself was fearful, doubtful, and hesitant in the face of the overwhelming odds that were coming against him. So much so, that I suspect that had God not chosen him to lead, he would have left with the others when he asked everyone who had fear or doubt to go home! However, because Gideon didn’t let his fear, his questions, or his lack of confidence hold him back from achieving the victory, God was able to accomplish the salvation of Gideon’s country through his efforts.
When God called, Gideon answered.
When God cast a vision, Gideon executed it.
When God declared his destiny, Gideon stepped out in faith beyond his comfort zone to accomplish more than he had believed or imagined was possible.
Like Gideon, you have the opportunity to accept your weaknesses, your wounds, your hurts, your diseases, your dysfunctions, your defeats as what has come before, but not what is coming now. You have the opportunity to have God convert your weaknesses and your failures, your losses and your defeats into the foundations for your future. Rather than letting defeat define you, trap you, and enslave you into repeating the failures, flaws, and hurts of the past, you can choose to climb on top of the rubble, the garbage heap, and the trash that the enemy has placed in your life and declare all of it your foundation.
You are not going to live in the past any more. You are not going to cower in the face of the overwhelming odds that you face, or the darkness or the fear or the doubt or the defeat that you have come to expect. You are going to place your faith in the fact that God is bigger than the obstacles you face, God is more powerful than the enemy who is trying to hold you down, and God is giving you the victory over every weapon that has ever been formed against you.
“For the LORD and for Gideon!” – Judges 7
God is ready to accomplish a great work in you. God is ready to achieve a great victory for you. God is ready to unleash an abundance of blessings in your life. God is ready to take you places beyond your biggest and best dreams.
So get ready. Get prepared. And then climb up on the rubble, the baggage, and the garbage of your past, dig down deep to the solid rock of God’s presence and love for you and declare once and for all that God is bigger than your challenges, God is more powerful than everything that has come against you, and God is going to use everything that has happened to you, everything that you have done, and every mistake that you have made as the stepping stones to lift you up and elevate you to a new level of connection with other people and with God, a new level of understanding and compassion, a new level of calling and purpose, a new level of motivation and persistence, a new level of love and relationship, a new level of faith and accomplishment, a new level of listening and leadership, a new level of success and fulfillment, a new level of peace and confidence, a new level of joy and abundant blessing.
All God is looking for is someone who will answer His call to rise higher, love deeper, and receive more. So,
“Go with the strength you have… I am sending you!” – Judges 6
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