You had to be on that Zoom call with us to hear how rebuilding came about for her. I am calling her my ‘Exhibit A’.
She said, ‘For me, chaos was just normal, even as a kid. One time, me and my mum were living in a rehab down South, but we got kicked out cos she got caught with drugs. We ended up at my Auntie’s. Then we lived in a hostel for a bit. And after that we got a flat. Then my mum met this fella and we flitted to Fleetwood and moved into a bedsit. We got evicted from there though. It was in the middle of the night, and we had nowhere to go, so we went to the Police Station and my mum asked if we could stay there. And we slept on a police cell floor. I was only about eight. Then, she got with this other bloke who sexually abused me. It went on for around a year.
I’d started drinking and smoking myself by the time I was 11. It wasn’t long before I was taking drugs, going to festivals, and partying and all that. I got pregnant at 14. Then when I was 20, I had a miscarriage. Five years after that, I got pregnant again. This is the way it was. It seemed like I was always caught up in chaos of one sort or another. It got to the point where I thought, ‘I want something better than this.’ Then my mate saw this event advertised on Facebook, so we went, and someone said from the stage, ‘God wants to be part of your journey, but first you need to let him in’. So, I did.’
She continued, ’It was after this, that things did pan out for the better. I stopped taking drugs and stopped the craziness. Then, I got a job doing admin and stuff. I started going out with a fella from church and he treated me dead different. He included me and he wasn’t after sex like all the others had been. Then we got married and after that I became a Care Worker. After that I went to college. And after that, I started to train to be a leader. So now, as well as being employed by our church to do all the administration, I’m the assistant leader!’
You see, she was right in the thick of it! And yet, with God, she got on with rebuilding her life, brick by brick!
Even in times of chaos, you’re able to rebuild better!
You’ve just seen the evidence of it! My Exhibit A! ‘A’ stands for Adelle, by the way. She used to work for us! And I was the someone speaking from the stage!
In Bible times, there was a 70-year period when God’s people were held, against their will, away from home so their own towns and cities lay derelict.
But Isaiah said, ‘They will rebuild the ancient ruins,’ and, in the end, they did!
These six words paint a picture for us today. You see, God wants to be part of our journey so that with him, we can rebuild the areas that are ruined! Then our lives can be better than they’ve ever been before!
He says, ‘I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten’. (Joel 2:25)
He means those lost years!
But first you need to let him in. You have to give God a try!
So, where are you at? Do you want something better? Do you want to get on with rebuilding your life? Or even part of it. Are you ready though to take hold of the bricks that you need? That’s up to you.
Even in times of chaos you’re able to rebuild better!
Barry