BurnSite

Mississippi Lessons

The old woman hobbled into her house that we had just spent 2 hours completely gutting. Moldy furniture, moldy books and clothing, moldy siding and insulation...everything had to go except for the very frame itself. We had been working fiercely, proud that we were making such good time destroying this woman's house, knowing that the quicker we got the job done, the sooner the possibility that someone would come in and rebuild it. But as she limped into the house and realized she could look through the framing into each of the rooms, she burst into tears...and sobbed and sobbed as if her heart were breaking yet again in yet another loss. We stood humbly, our proud accomplishment dwindling, our swift platitudes unspoken in our mouths. Our labor was someone's loss...our hard work was destroying someone's house. She stood in a bare, empty house and we were asking her to have the faith to believe that somebody would come back to rebuild it.
Megan, my friend from Voice of Calvary Ministries said later, "Isn't that what God does with our lives sometimes? He has to completely strip everything from us so we stand as an empty frame, sobbing and sobbing...and although He is doing it so He can rebuild us in His eternal and redemptive way, in the moment of loss and grief, it is difficult to believe." I understood exactly what she was talking about...if dear Miss Dauphine from Biloxi, Mississipi can cling to the faith that of all the thousands of houses that need to be rebuilt, hers will get done...then I can join her in that faith.