Stepping Back

Not long ago, my wife and I sold a house we had lived in for nearly two decades.  The house was built in the late 1800s and so, there were always things to do and spend our time and money on.  During the time we lived there we did things like fix windows and doors, rewire the biggest portion of the house, replace old or inadequate plumbing and so on.  

One summer I decided it was time to repair the weather-beaten and rotten tongue and groove flooring on the front porch.  I soon found that the old axiom that said, “On old houses, you can’t fix just one thing”, was absolutely true.  I ripped the decking off the porch and, as expected, found a lot of rotten wood in the porch frame that I replaced as I went along.

At last I was nearly finished with the repair of the frame and was looking forward to installing the new flooring.  I finally decided what I needed to do to repair the porch frame that joined the frame of the house under the dining-room door, and there it was, the unexpected part of the repair.  Removing that last piece of rotten support uncovered another rotten piece of framing, this time, under the dining-room door.

To speed the story along a little, the more I tore into it, the more framework I found that needed repair.  As it turned out, I had to remove the dining room floor, dig drainage around the perimeter under that part of the house, replace or repair some of the frame, replace the gas lines, install a subfloor (they didn’t install subfloors in the 1800s), and then install new tongue-and-groove flooring, and at last replace the baseboards. 

A contractor could have brought in his crew and probably been finished in about a week.  Since I was doing the work myself along with the occasionally hired handyman, and the work was pay as you go, it took a little longer than the projected week of a contractor.  Just a little longer, almost two years if I’m forced to put a time on it.  But it got finished, and we were happy with the result.

During the process, there were times when we just had to step back and collect a little money or take time just to figure out what had to be done next and how the heck I would get that done.  And there were quite a few times when I was simply fed up and discouraged and took a break.  Sometimes stepping back was chosen and other times I had no choice, but it nearly always was the right thing to do at that time.

Now we live in a new house that doesn’t require all those repairs but one of us, not me, is pretty good at finding things to replace or modify.  The last change we did was the flooring in our bedroom.  We had the carpet taken out and tongue-and-groove put in.

I watched the installer go in and out of the house an untold number of times carrying tools, carpet, new flooring and anything else he found necessary to complete the job.  And I can’t tell you how many times, as I watched, I would think to myself that I could do this or why is he doing it that way?  I would then remember that I am now several years older and have had a couple of health issues that would prevent me from doing that kind of work.  Not that I was depressed, I wasn’t.  I just needed to remember that at this time of my life I sometimes need to step back and let someone else do it.  Again, it is the right thing to do.

I sometimes think our relationship with our Lord is a lot like completing home remodeling or repair.  As young Christians, we are frequently in a hurry to learn, learn, and learn some more and are sometimes disgruntled because we can’t learn fast enough.  Often when we develop the courage, or faith, to start sharing the gospel we can become down-hearted because no-one wants to jump at the chance to be saved. 

Then, there are those times when we find ourselves in the hole of depression, financial problems, or in the rut of undefeated sin in our lives.

These are the times that show how important it is to have a mature Christian in our lives that can help us to understand that it is not us that is in charge of these events.  

11You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD; He is their help and their shield. Psalm 115:11 NKJ.

6Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 1Peter 5:6-7.

As the old Hymn says, "Cast thy burden upon the Lord". If we can just learn to Step Back and lean on the Lord as we are told, we will discover it is possible to have the peace that only the Lord can give, by His grace, because we obey Him and concede that it is He that is in charge, not us. 

5Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJ.

Step Back and allow the Lord to give you peace, it is not your job to worry, direct or take responsibility for the work that only God can do in your life.