Being Rebuilt

I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt” - Jeremiah 31:4.

When we are knocked down, the Lord promises to build us back up.  There are countless verses throughout the Bible that refer to this healing power.  If you flip through the four Gospels, you will see endless references to Jesus’ power in healing, casting out demons, raising people from the dead, and curing sickness.  For example, I was reading my Bible on the banks of the Charles River and the wind acted as my own personal page turner… which was such a blessing because my arms/shoulders/really everything was beyond sore!  Anyways, as the wind slowly blew page after page, the “Jesus Heals” message kept jumping out:  “Jesus Heals the Blind and Mute,” “Jesus Heals Many,” Jesus Heals a Paralytic, Jesus Heals a Demon-possessed Man, etc.”  (Let’s take a moment to let all that sink in and send up praises that Jesus heals!).

One of the ways that I was taught to study the Bible is to observe, interpret, and apply.  We’ve observed that God rebuilds us through healing, so now let’s interpret the verse.  In order to get the full understanding of a word's meaning, I usually google its definition.  Therefore, the prefix “re” is defined as “used with the meaning ‘again’ or ‘again and again’ to indicate repetition.”  How fitting!  Let’s revisit Jeremiah 31:4:  “I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt.”  Already Jesus is explaining that He will not only build us up one time; but again.  Then he promises “you will be rebuilt” and we just found out that the prefix “re” means that God will build us up again and again and again and again and again times infinity!

Now it’s time to apply the verse.  The word “rebuild” reminds me of my experience with my concussion.  October 17, 2012, was the date that I received my first diagnosed concussion.  Due to the symptoms, I was restricted to spending the next days and nights in my bed.  As I lay there, I vividly remember having this conversation with myself:  “Geez my head hurts, I need to stop thinking because the pain is ridiculous…Well Geeg, why don’t you stop thinking through your brain and start thinking through your heart?”  I smiled and instantly sent up praise:  “Thank goodness brain power doesn't get me to heaven!”  This led to the Ephesians 3:19 verse to come across my heart:  “to know this love that surpasses knowledge.”  God used my concussion to remind me that knowledge means nothing without the love of Christ.  Yes, my brain was injured and hurt, but my heart was protected.  It was protected by the love of Christ.  I repeated the phrase “love surpasses knowledge” over and over and dwelled on how thankful I was for Jesus' love. 

God blessed me with absolutely brilliant people to help me recover from this injury.   It’s evident that he guided me to these gifted functional neurologists as they constantly used the exact same word:  rebuild.  “Gigi, your brain is injured but it will heal.  We are going to rebuild the pathways of your brain.”  They spoke of re-teaching, retraining, and rebuilding my brain. 

Jeremiah 31:4 promises “I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt.”  Rebuild is exactly what God did.  He promised and he delivered.  He always does.  God took my concussion and rebuilt the pathways in my brain.  Most importantly, God rebuilt my heart.  My desire to exalt my knowledge over His love was broken down.  God built me up again with a stronger foundation:  His love.

Take heart when broken down.  Why?  Because God will build us up again and again and again and again and again………..

Be built up on God’s love today!

G.I.G.I.

Playbook for Life

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" - 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

Last winter, I traveled with the Boston Blades to play a series in Calgary.  While a TSA agent searched my bag, he came across my bible and asked if I knew what the Bible stood for.  I responded, "Yes I do.  The Bible shares the great news of God's love for us and how His Son died so that we may have life."  Shafat (the TSA agent) smiled, shook his head, and said "no."  Hmm, now it was my turn to smile as I welcomed the opportunity to find a different way to share the same message.  After reciting and explaining John 3:16, he stopped me and declared, "I believe in Jesus Christ as well and this is what the Bible stands for:  Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.  Now I have told you.  Go and share this with others."  He smiled, handed me my bag, and left me standing in awe of God's wisdom.

God is the greatest coach ever and he provided the Bible as our playbook for life.  All teams have playbooks detailing systems, coverages, matchups, rules, etc.  We study these game plans so that we know what's expected of us in various situations.  For example, if the opponent runs an overload power play, the penalty killers (PK) must know how to kill against this set-up.  If we forget, we can return to the playbook that explains our PK coverage.  This is exactly what the Bible does for us.  It is God's game plan for life.  The Word contains plays for every single situation that we will experience.  Struggle with judging?  Go to Matthew 7.  Not sure how to escape temptation?  Find the answer in 1 Corinthians 10:13.  Consumed with worry?  Exchange it for peace with Philippians 4:6-7.  

God knows all the challenges we will encounter while on Earth.  We are able to navigate these by following the Godly wisdom provided in the Bible.  The more I immerse myself in the Bible, the stronger I grow in faith.  It's simple:  if i don't read the playbook, I will struggle mightily.  However, if I continually refer to God's game plan to receive Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth, I will be "thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Tim 3:17).

Team Jesus Christ has the greatest coach in the world with the greatest playbook in the world.  Enjoy opening God's game plan and training in righteousness today!

Strength in Christ.

G.I.G.I.