As a father and now as a grandfather, I’ve built hundreds of LEGO toy sets with my kids and grandkids. In fact, about two-thirds of our garage space is currently occupied by completed LEGO sets of various kinds: medieval castles, Star Wars, the wild west, pirates, and modern cities. Over the hundreds of hours I’ve invested in building these sets with my grandkids, I’ve noticed many parallels to building a strong life. I’ve even written down my list of “Life Lessons from LEGOs.”
Recently, I was moving a nearly three-foot-high LEGO tower to a new spot. It represented days of work, and I was very careful as I moved it. But suddenly, I lost my balance and tipped the tower to one side. From that point, gravity took over! A weak spot was revealed; the building buckled; and it all crashed to the floor, breaking into about five thousand pieces, except for the base that I still held in my hands. My heart sank.
I’ve had completed projects fall apart before, so I knew a hard truth from experience: It is far more difficult to rebuild something damaged than to build something new right out of the box, with all the pieces numbered and sorted by bags.
Yes, it is difficult, but it is not impossible! So I knew what I had to do. I picked up the pieces, recommitted to my purpose, and started patiently putting it all back together again with determination.
That may be a metaphor of what you’re experiencing as you pick up this book. Your life may seem to be just a jumbled pile of bricks caused by some kind of earthquake in your life, and you’re not sure you have the energy or motivation to start putting everything back together again.
Well, as a pastor for more than forty years, let me encourage you with four things about starting over:
First, we all have things fall apart in our lives! Everybody does. All of us are broken by something. And having counseled many outwardly successful people, I can tell you that the people who appear to be the most “put together” on the outside are often those who are most falling apart on the inside.
Second, the most heroic stories we all love are about comebacks. We admire people who pick themselves up and, with resilience, get back into the game. But have you ever realized that there is no comeback without first a setback? There is no hero without hardship. It is the struggle that will make you strong. Failure is the pathway to success—if you are humble enough to learn the lesson! This book is filled with the lessons you’ll need.
Third, when things fall apart, one of the reasons people feel overwhelmed and paralyzed is all the rubble. The rubble is all the trash, trivia, and mess that pile up in our lives over time. You have to clear out some rubble before you can rebuild. It’s part of the process.
Finally, in order to recover, you’ll have to make some tough personal choices, but you won’t have to make them by yourself! God and others, particularly those in a church family, can help you with wisdom, perspective, and encouragement. What matters most in rebuilding and recovering from anything is not how much money or education or talent you have. What matters most are the choices you make based on the principles you learn. In his book, my dear brother, co-pastor, and friend Tom Holladay lays out these principles with clarity and kindness.
This book is a gold mine of wisdom! If I could, I’d give everyone in the world a copy to read, because we’ve all faced situations that seemed hopeless. So congratulations! In just picking up this book, you’ve taken a huge step toward a new you.
Let me encourage you to do four things with this book:
1. Read it slowly. Don’t rush it! You need to give God plenty of time to take you through the rebuilding process. Everyone always wants to recover immediately. We’re more interested in the speed of recovery, while God is interested in the strength of your foundation so that what you build is stable and lasting. He doesn’t want you tipping over so easily.
2. Act on the practical steps suggested at the end of each chapter. In many ways, these pages are the most important in the book. Jesus reminds us at the end of the Sermon on the Mount that it is those who put his words into practice who build on a rock-solid foundation (Matthew 7:24).
3. Read this with others. You need support in rebuilding so you don’t get discouraged. You’re not meant to do this alone. Get one or two other people to read this book with you, and use the questions at the back of the book as a discussion guide.
4. Read this, knowing that God is your dependable source of HOPE! Romans 15:13 reads, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” With God, there is always hope!
For most of my life, I’ve lived on the coast of California. When the tide is out on a beach, a lot of ugly stuff can be seen. You can see all the driftwood, trash, rocks, and tangled seaweed that have washed up on the shore. There’s a lot of rubble when the tide is out. But eventually, the tide always comes back in.
The tide may be out in your life right now, and what you are going through doesn’t feel good or look good. But this is not the end of your story! The tide always comes back in. Jeremiah 29:11 reads, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the LORD. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope’” (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT). So I urge you to start this journey of rebuilding with renewed hope, expecting God to help you. I’ll be praying for you as you read this book. I’m asking God to make the rest of your life the best of your life. May God bless you!
Dr. Rick Warren
The Purpose Driven Life
Saddleback Church