Infrastructure and superstructure. I found those terms quite fascinating. As a Sociology major, we studied systems — how they worked and why they functioned. Although I won’t find those terms specifically in scripture, they closely track with how we fare when we build on certain structures and why it’s so important to trust God.
In my earlier days, I trusted my ability to do things my way. If contentious outbursts erupted between family members, I made it my mission to act as sage mediator. If someone needed assistance, I exhausted every resource at my disposal to compensate. I created a superstructure founded on perfection instead of relying on the Rock of my Salvation.
Have you ever tried building on a structure of your own making only to find it of no good use? In the Book of Luke, two men made plans to build a house, the perfect infrastructure filled with all the comforts of home. But remember, perfection does not run in our DNA. One took the time to trust his dwelling to a deeper albeit unknowing future. He built his house on the Rock. The other? Well, he trusted in his natural ability and the current environment. His house rested on a ground without a foundation (6:48-49).
And with life, storms come, some quick and without warning.
I expected to follow the natural order of adulthood — courtship, marriage, maternity, family. But when a torrent of infertility washed away the possibility, God’s word met us on the shore. Not with condemnation, but with hope. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Although our house laid devastated in the debris, God took the time to help us heal in the transformation. We asked questions. He provided peace. I cried an ocean of painful tears. He provided a riverbed of constant comfort. I felt angry in the unearthing. He understood, yet still redirected me in the rebuilding. He assured me again and again, “ALL things, daughter. All. Things. Will. Work. Together. For. Good.”
It’s understandable. We want what’s good and perfect, but often after a devastating blow, good and perfect stings. It is His good and perfect that brings transformation — freedom, wisdom and dependence, beautiful gifts that do not waver, wean or warp under life’s torrents. He desires to build a strong infrastructure able to withstand the pounding waves and the self-perfection. And it is upon His Rock, His awesome superstructure, our hearts and minds are fixed, secure and established. In other words, transformed.
