The Construction Site of Your Life: Learning to Trust the Process
written by AG Leadership Student 2025, Terrence Quah
Homes are sanctuaries from the harsh environment of the world, providing a place of rest and safety. For families, they are places to build their lives and to find warmth and joy from.
In Matthew 8:20, Jesus said “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” This was reflective of how in His ministry Jesus had no permanent home to return to and it reveals that even Jesus was conscious of his fleshly need for shelter, describing how the animals in creation all seek their own shelter.
Beyond being a necessity, homes also provide beauty for us to gaze at in wonder. Numerous magazines exist to showcase beautiful homes from around the world because of this. Beautiful homes result in profound resonance within.
Whilst many see a house as the finished product, I have had the opportunity to see many homes during the construction phase, and in the months and years leading to its completion, the building looks and is extremely unpleasant to be around.
I personally dislike construction sites because they are noisy, dusty, smelly, dirty, dangerous, raw, inhospitable, hot, humid, sandy, sweaty, rusty, wet, unsheltered, cluttered and generally messy places.
Without experience, any client who walks into a construction site would be sure that the architect or the builder has made some mistake somewhere. There’s no way the finished product they were promised could look this messy, even in the interim.
Nervous clients question me regularly if the beautifully rendered image they were sold on was meant to look anything like the current state of construction, but I have learned to trust the plan and the process. Similarly when building God’s house, it is not going to look like a magazine worthy home until the very last moment when the place is officially completed and staged.
Whenever I face doubts from clients, there are some tools I use to help alleviate their concerns.
First, is the setting of guide-posts and markers, to see if the construction is truly reflective of the plans. The guideposts, called "gridlines” and “setting-out lines” are extremely useful for ensuring that whatever is being built is on track.
Second, is to whip out the good old measuring tape. Often on site, due to it’s incomplete state and lack of reference points, clients often lack a sense of scale when it comes to placement of fixtures. Only when measure with a tape that we can set their minds at rest.
If we keep our relationship with God priority in this process, and ground ourselves in God’s word, serving as the consistent yardstick of measurement we will be good.
Third, is to trust the Architect! Just as the best outcomes happen when clients trust my judgment, we should also trust the Master Builder and Architect of our lives. When all we see is the chaos of the construction site “mid-process”, bringing our doubts and fears to Him will serve us so much better.
Finally, I feel that originality is king. I’ve had clients who are constantly trying to copy and incorporate parts of other houses into their own design, without realising that the foundation, structure, context, budget, family make up and needs of their houses are different from the ones they are trying to copy.
As typical Singaporeans, trusting only in themselves and what they can see, they tend to they feel they know what is best, and instead of letting the expert guide and create something unique and beautiful for them, they end up short-changing themselves, whilst thinking they are doing themselves a favour. Sometimes, while gazing and admiring the houses that others have built,many times are gazing and admiring the houses we have built instead.
We all share the same Architect, and he has no favourites, so let us trust God and focus on our own houses instead of glancing left and right. As we allow God to lead us in building our lives & His kingdom, may we fix our eyes on Him & trust Him through the mess.