When I saw this sign the other day, it stopped me in my tracks and I said a big, AMEN. It’s outside the new Restoration Hardware store that’s under construction in Leawood. Call me crazy but I love it.

I wish I could take credit for the words:

“Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction.” – Picasso

See what destruction hath wrought.

If ever there was a short and sweet way to describe where I’ve been the last few years, this is it.

I might rather say, “Every act of re-creation is first of all an act of destruction.”

You have to tear down before you can rebuild.

I’ve said in previous posts that I’ve been in a process I named, “unbecoming” (click for a little explanation in that post). Several things had happened that left me feeling like I was sitting in a pile of rubble, that used to be me.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say God was behind the destruction, but He most certainly has used it for my good.

Look at this familiar passage in Romans:

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Romans 8:26-29

I know there are various thoughts on what this passage is saying, but two things leap out at me:

One, He turns all things for good for those who love Him and are called. That’s good news.

Two, I can’t help but notice a connection between the Spirit’s helping us in our weakness and our being conformed to the image of Jesus.

Perhaps as the Spirit was making intercession on my behalf, praying for me in ways I didn’t know to pray, according to God’s will, He was simply asking that I be conformed to the image of Christ.

What if that was my highest need? What if that is the highest need we all have, but in our weakness we don’t know to ask for it?

What if the things that were meant for my destruction were just the kinds of things God uses to mold me into what I’m predestined to be?

Perhaps he uses [not causes] the hard things in our lives to rid us of all that is not like Him.

That would put a different spin on things, wouldn’t it? It would give us a new, more hopeful perspective in the midst of pain. Maybe it would help us forgive more easily.

So, what do we do when things fall apart? When life looks like destruction? When we don’t know who we are anymore?

I think we plunder the situation, the wreckage, for all the good it’s worth. We mine out the gold, silver and precious stones and then walk away and let the rest burn.

We take what’s solid and begin again. And one day we will say, come “see what destruction hath wrought.”