Self-Construction

From my study window I'm watching a garage get constructed right across the street.
It's a fascinating process.
First, the guy digs a big, wide hole.
Then some other guys go inside the hole and nail boards in a nice regular north-south and west-east pattern. This takes a lot of time. If it were me, I'd slap those babies together and be done with it.
But they're really careful. They do lots of measuring.
Next, a cement truck arrives, backs into the driveway and slowly deposits its sludge into the hole. I can't see what the men are doing but I hear much shouting of instructions back and forth.
This also takes a lot of time.
Two days later, another truck arrives with long pieces of lumber. I don't see it happen, but the next time I look, the wood sits neatly stacked on the side of the driveway.
It sits there a full day with no activity.
Building a garage sure makes me impatient. What a lot of time just spent measuring, waiting, delivering, stacking, more waiting.
Can't those builders see I'm anxious to see the building go up? I want to see the actual garage.
Finally, when I come back from my lunch break, I see a couple of boards standing up above the foundation. Couple of hours later: a basic frame.
This morning the walls are completely up. I notice that the builders have made the style of the garage and the roof match the rest of the house.
I hear nailing and pounding, but I can't see too much. They're inside the structure, doing mysterious construction-guy things I can only guess at.

In the two weeks it took to erect the garage, a full two thirds of the time was spent just measuring and laying the foundation. The rest went up quickly.

I thought about it this morning, how long it takes to prepare anything: applying masking tape in preparation for painting,
measuring and cutting out a pattern to sew a dress,
practicing the rudimentary strokes of the drummer,
learning the craft of the writer.
Such discipline, such persistent practice, such careful preparation for the final --and much faster --dash to the end.
But the foundation has to be carefully laid. If it's not, then the rest lies on faulty ground.

My life as a believer, too, is being carefully measured, mapped out, filled in.
Christ is laying a foundation. He takes His time, frustrating me with delayed answers to prayer and augmented time in the stinky trenches.
I am like a two year old filly. He pulls on the bit, reining in my enthusiasm to to cut corners and just "get to the finish line."

Because He wants the job to be perfect.
And He is the expert builder.

1Cor. 3:9 "By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ."