To Pull Down

The Lord told the prophet Jeremiah that He had set him over the nations and kingdoms for six purposes:

Jeremiah 1:10

"See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant."

Only two of the purposes were positive, edifying purposes.  The other four were corrective

and they came first.  We are experiencing much of that in our own lives this week.  

A leak in a hot water pipe under our slab has necessitated the refit of all our plumbing.  To accomplish this there has needed to be much pulling down, some destroying, a little throwing down, before there can be any building and planting.

Specifically, portions of walls have had to be removed,  mirrors taken down,  and parts of our front yard dug up.  Later today new pipes will be routed through our walls and attic and finally attached to the main line at the street.    The damaged portion of pipe will totally be bypassed in the process.

In our lives as Christians, the Lord often must do some pulling down, some rooting out, before He begins His work of building and planting.  Sometimes there are wrong assumptions, wrong thought processes, wrong perceptions which must be corrected before He can build in us that which He desires to accomplish.  If He were to build upon a false foundation, it would crumble when the winds and storms of this word begin to blow.  If He were to plant in a foul field, the plants would surely die in the heat of the day.  So He first applies the work pulling down and rooting out.

Our part in this job is the same as my walls, my wallpaper and my yard. . .to submit.  We submit ourselves to His will believing that although there were things which He has needed to remove, He will build us into something even better for His purpose.    We must always realize that even when we can't understand His hand, we can always trust His heart.  His working in our lives is to always finish the job He has begun.

Philippians 1:6

"Being confident of this very thing, 
that He which hath begun a good work in you 
will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:"