3. What to Know Before You Build, Rev. Ben Ingebretson

Welcome back to our series called Renovate.   

I hope this is speaking to you right where you are at. Right in the middle of perhaps a very turbulent or confusing time in your life. I hope that the journey thus far though it may look a bit challenging is also charged with an air of mystery.   

Allow me to explain.  

Like Nehemiah, things can look pretty bleak sometimes. However, bleak is never, never the last word in the Kingdom. I wonder with you what this mysterious hope of the Kingdom could mean for you and your biggest obstacles?  

One of the mysteries that Nehemiah was going to discover had to do with partnerships. If you are like me, you likely spend too much time privately thinking your way forward through the biggest challenges of life. I lay in bed at night pondering or I sit mid-day and stare off into space as I try, single handedly, to imagine a path through a mess. Does any of this sound familiar?  

Looking back however on the biggest challenges of life, it is remarkable to me how people have come along and those relationships/partnerships are often a big part of God’s provision.  

Nehemiah discovered this reality, and I believe he would say we should be prepared to be surprised. You can see how that surprise worked for him in the first 8 verses of Nehemiah 2. I’ll let you read it for yourself.  

Let me close and return to this air of mystery that you may sense. What if your challenge is not the last word? What if RENOVATION is possible? What if there are some people you are going to meet, divine appointments?  

If all of that is possible it will require faith, patience, prayer, vulnerability and openness to the God who loves to RENOVATE!    

Think about it.     

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