What Has He Made You to Be?

“For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.” 1 Corinthians 3:9

We women often pause to wonder who we are. As our kids grow older and move on, we are prone to stop and take inventory of what we have done and where we are headed. After a traumatic event, such as a divorce or death of a loved one or an incapacitating illness or injury, we wonder just what God has in mind for us. There are many Scriptures that give answers to this question, but today let us consider just 1 Corinthians 3:9.

First, the Word declares here that we are God’s fellow workers. We work side-by-side. I do my part while He does His, both of us working toward the same end: His will. God’s power and purpose and wisdom and resources, and every other thing at His disposal, work in and through and beside and beyond me, toward fulfilling His perfect plan. Side-by-side, fellow-workers of God Himself.

Second, we are God’s field. A field in the context of this portion of Scripture is used for planting a crop that will yield a harvest, and verse 7 tells us that God gives the increase. He plants us where He knows we will grow best, He feeds us and waters us (often through the ministry of other believers—see v.10—and always through His Word). We yield whatever it is that He has purposed to be the fruit of our lives. Also, a farmer always looks for ways to increase the yield of his fields. He knows just how to get the best out of His fields.

Last, we are God’s building. Of course, one meaning is that we are His temple (v. 16), His dwelling place. But as His “building”, I think there is another way to think of it: He first laid a foundation for us, which is Christ; we are built on that solid Rock (Christ), literally “grounded” on His Word (also Christ, see John 1:1). From that, over the many years of our lives, He has built us from the bottom up, not with wood that will burn as it passes through the fire (v. 15), but with living stones that are being built into a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5). Each experience of our lives brings more stones as we are built into “His building.”

And what kind of “building” is He making me to be? Am I a cozy cottage that beckons the hurting to come in for a cup of tea and comfort? Am I a fortress castle that provides protection from enemy attack? Am I a school where students come to gain knowledge and wisdom? Am I a potting shed where tender seedlings (new believers) are nurtured until they can be set out in the harsh elements? Just as with any building project, it is only slowly revealed what the building will be. God, the Master Builder, has His blueprints, and He works carefully to make us into a living building not made with hands.

Lord, thank You for the Words of Scripture that let us visualize how You see us. May Your purposes become clear as we work beside You, grow up into You, and are built by You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.