Rebuilt on the Cornerstone

This past year has been a huge lesson for me on faith.  Everything I thought I knew has been torn down, rebuilt, torn down, rebuilt, etc.  You get the idea.  I have been made aware of strongholds in my life and God has used a scalpel to extract that sin. 

I have hurt.

I have bled.

I have been completely broken.

Yet, the beauty that has come from this is awesome. 

I am so thankful to God that He loves me so much that He continues to work in me. 

Through this He has also shown me the effects of sin.  I don’t say this to claim that I am without sin.  He uses others in my life to shine a mirror on my sin.  What I see in other people, I try to evaluate in myself.  It is a humbling exercise.

In this past month I had a front-row seat to the devastating effects of hate and selfishness.  I have seen the hardening of hearts and witnessed the aftermath.  It is nothing short of absolute devastation.  It’s not just the personal devastation; it’s the complete annihilation of relationships for generations. 

A year ago my father-in-law lied.  He created an illusion, preyed on our emotions, so he could secretly divorce my mother-in-law.  I tracked him down, through his lies, because I knew the name of his mistress.

For the last year I’ve watched the devastating effect of his choices on those around him.  There is a loss of trust, relational division, anger, bitterness, resentfulness, and lies.  Each word that has been uttered has seemed like another layer of lies.

It is at times like this that I see unfairness.  He got married this weekend to his mistress.  There are pictures of smiling faces, of celebration, of joy. 

The photos you don’t see are piles of tissues soaked in our tears, scars that mark our hearts, and the tiny fissures that pierce our trust of others. 

I feel like we have been laid bare in the desert.  We are hurt, we are bleeding, and we are completely broken.  We are exposed. 

Yet…

there is healing from hurts that go even beyond this incident.

relationships are growing stronger, deeper, more meaningful.

hope is starting to flicker.

We are being rebuilt on the Cornerstone.  With that foundation, there is a future, there is Hope and there is Peace. 

I Peter 2:6 – “For in Scripture it says; ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious Cornerstone, and the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.’”