There’s no sense in throwing good money after bad. You don’t build an extension on a crumbling foundation. Sometimes, the only thing to do is tear down the walls and start over. It’s human nature to seek out the path of least resistance. We don’t want to do extra work if we don’t have to. And if you do, let me know I’ve got some work for you! It’s a hard concept to come to grips with at times because you may have spent money, time, or energy on something that you genuinely believed would work, only to discover that so much more needed to be done, you might as well start from scratch. There’s no sense in throwing good money after bad. You don’t build an extension on a crumbling foundation. Sometimes, the only thing to do is tear down the walls and start over. It’s human nature to seek out the path of least resistance. We don’t want to do extra work if we don’t have to. And if you do, let me know I’ve got some work for you! It’s a hard concept to come to grips with at times because you may have spent money, time, or energy on something that you genuinely believed would work, only to discover that so much more needed to be done, you might as well start from scratch.
It really doesn’t matter whether it’s a beloved car that’s too old to fix, a job that won’t ever be what you want it to be, a relationship you’ve invested years into, or a stone wall. Some things are unfixable. And, in holding on to them, trying to prolong their lives, patching the problem, will simply cost you far more than they are worth. My father built the stone wall in our yard with his hands. He wasn’t a mason or a contractor, just a man with a plan. The retaining walls that had been there we had built one summer vacation years ago from railroad ties. They had rotted out and needed to be replaced. Pop got the idea to excavate a bit , he knew about a place where he could get some free rocks, and never one to forgo a deal, he roped my brother into transporting them with his truck and built the wall.
It was a lovely wall, clearly built by someone who had been used to figuring out a way to do things without expertise, but beautiful nonetheless. They looked like something you’d see on a Lord Of The Rings set, covered in ivy supporting a gently sloping hill. We liked the wall, it was pretty, and we appreciated the history. But one day, while mowing the lawn next to the wall, a cascade of giant stones fell, burying the mower and the mowers leg. Not too long after, another patch of the wall collapsed. We wondered if someone were knocking it down. Another portion fell. We had to get it fixed; it was a hazard; there were children. Noone could fix the wall back to the way it had been. It had to be torn out completely and re-stacked. It wasn’t worth it to just put the stones back in the place they were because it would keep falling and the structure had been compromised. We needed help. It was time to tear down the walls and bring in the professionals.
In life, we need help sometimes too. Sometimes the walls are so damaged we don’t even know where to begin. At times the task seems so massive we are overwhelmed with the enormity of the problem. Other times, we don’t want to lose what we once had, even if it is broken down, and no longer working. It’s those times when we need to call on someone greater than ourselves, the great builder.
Hebrews 3:1-4 “Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, set your minds on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. He was faithful to the One who appointed Him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. Jesus has been counted worthy of greater glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.”