Recently a dear friend shared with me a thought: "Remember that even in destruction the Lord's purposes are being fulfilled."  We talked about that idea.  She said that often the Lord has to deconstruct an old situation, habits, ways of operating, most commonly through difficulty and trial  in order to rebuild us in His Image, to make us more like He is, to create a new inner and sometimes outer environment.  This is similar to the idea of being born again - of overcoming the natural and carnal man and becoming a spiritual man.  She talked about this principle in our lives personally as well as circumstantially.   A number of years ago this same friend and I discussed building and construction images in the gospel.  The word edify comes from the same root as the word edifice.  So when we edify someone or receive edification ourselves, we are building their or our own spiritual edifices.  That is an interesting tie-in to Paul's declaration in Ephesians that the church is build upon a foundation of apostles and prophets with Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone.  Anciently, the chief cornerstone was the first block laid in a foundation.  If it is perfectly square  (as the Savior is) then as all the other stones are added the foundation will square off.  I love that analogy in relationship to building our lives square against the gospel the Savior taught..  We need a perfect square (the Savior) to measure ourselves against in order that we might make needed adjustments.  Thus our houses will be build upon the rock.  I think it is interesting that Jesus was a builder by profession.  When Randy and I were in Israel one of our guides said that there are some sources that indicate the word that is translated as "carpenter" can also be translated as a stone mason so some think that perhaps Jesus was a stone mason.  Either way, carpenter or stone mason, it's symbolic that He, the builder of our souls was a builder by profession.   My friend said, "think of the word understanding.  Literally it means 'that which is underneath your standing?' or 'that which are you standing on,'" the correlation being, that the greater our understanding of the gospel is, the more solid the foundation upon which we stand.  

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.  Ephesians 2:19-22