Sunday, November 20, 2011

Lessons From My 20s: Rome Wasn't Built In A Day, But It Could Have Been

In twelve days I turn 30!!!!  I shall continue on in my series of lessons learned in my 20s. Today's lesson: Rome Wasn't Built In A Day, But It Could Have Been. 

Jady preaching at Mosaic in Seattle. It wasn't built in a day. 

We all know the phrase 'Rome wasn't built in a day'. Someone didn't come up with an idea & poof there was Rome. It took time. Perseverance. Generations built Rome. A long line of visionaries completed the mission. Most things worth building take time.

When we moved to Seattle this saying flew through my mind regularly. Mosaic Community Church won't happen in a day. Year one isn't going to hold all the church's full-fledged ministries. Our church culture won't be fully established and solidified. It will be brick by brick, person by person.

It is important to remember that great things come at great cost. It is worth the time to build well so that your handiwork remains for the civilizations that come after you. There is no substitute for time. 

There have been many undertakings in my life that seem big to me. I mentioned in an earlier post how I want things to happen immediately. I am no good at waiting. I have to remember that I am no greater than the Romans & it may take me longer than I want to build what I am building. God even took 6 days to create the earth. 

The problem with building something monumental & putting in the time is you can so easily loose hope and vision for the task at hand. Where do you get the hope to keep building day after day, decade after decade & generation after generation?

Seattle had some hard days while we were trying to plant Mosaic in those first years. I had to remind myself of two things. 

1. It takes time. I have to choose to persevere as long as it takes to see the promises of God completed. 
2. God could do it now. If I am going to keep striving for a big dream, then I have to believe that God could do it today. Maybe this is the day it happens.

If we don't live with the commitment to run the race no matter how long it is AND the faith that God could bust in at any moment and complete the task in a second...then we stop. We get weary of pushing on if we don't believe that today could be the day. Likewise, if we don't have the willingness to persevere then we simply sit around waiting for a 'miracle'.

It doesn't matter what you are building. It could be a marriage, a ministry, a business or a personal breakthrough of some kind. I have learned that to build Rome I have to have the mindset of 'however long it takes' AND the heart of a child with great faith. That combination is how we stay in the game. We have the courage to wake up again & put in another day's work. Knowing that at any moment God will come in with a game-changing play. 

With God ALL things are possible. Rome wasn't built in a day, but it could have been. 

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