FROM: Banbury, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
ABOUT ME: Living the highs and lows of life in the adventurous pursuit of God Himself and of who I'm meant to be as the Bride of Christ.
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Sunday, February 03, 2008,8:33 a.m.
WALLS COMING DOWN
I've been thinking about walls this weekend. I suppose in a new house I should think about the walls - what colour to paint them, where all the nicks are that need to be filled, where they are in relation to me and the massive piece of furniture I'm moving around (it's good to know where the stairs are for that, too). But I've actually been thinking about walls in our lives.
Interestingly, there have been four times already this year where a wall in our school has had some part of a person go through it (fist, foot, couple of times full bodies....). The wall has quite literally been broken. As I chatted with a group of students about this a few weeks ago, one girl enthusiastically said, "Maybe it's prophetic!" We all had a good chuckle, and that was that.
And then a couple of weeks ago a bunch of us stayed after school on Friday to worship together, and every song we randomly chose that afternoon was about breaking down walls. All of a sudden I wasn't chuckling as much anymore, and decided to chat with God about walls coming down.
For Joshua, with that whole Jericho gig, the second verse in that chapter is extremely revealing: "And the Lord said to Joshua, "See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valour." (Joshua 6:2) God had already given Israel the prize of Jericho and everything in it. Joshua and Israel still had to be brave and trust God and obey Him on how to actually receive that prize, but it was given long before they started marching around and blowing trumpets.
I wonder how many times in our own lives we see a prize that God has given, and assume it's not for us. I wonder how many times we don't even see the prize because the walls are so big. Here's the one difference - I think that in most situations, we build the walls ourselves. And if we are brave and trust God and obey His instructions, those walls can come down without taking us out as well.
I think it's scary to think about our protective walls coming down; after all, we have put them up for a reason. But then I think about the prize that is already ours - intimacy with God, gifts to accomplish our purpose in life, wisdom, knowledge, love, trust. It is likely more than I can even imagine.
All these things are already ours. It's our own walls that keep them at bay. I pray that our knowledge and trust in the goodness and faithfulness of God can overcome our own protective natures so we can truly experience intimacy with Him.
Interestingly, there have been four times already this year where a wall in our school has had some part of a person go through it (fist, foot, couple of times full bodies....). The wall has quite literally been broken. As I chatted with a group of students about this a few weeks ago, one girl enthusiastically said, "Maybe it's prophetic!" We all had a good chuckle, and that was that.
And then a couple of weeks ago a bunch of us stayed after school on Friday to worship together, and every song we randomly chose that afternoon was about breaking down walls. All of a sudden I wasn't chuckling as much anymore, and decided to chat with God about walls coming down.
For Joshua, with that whole Jericho gig, the second verse in that chapter is extremely revealing: "And the Lord said to Joshua, "See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valour." (Joshua 6:2) God had already given Israel the prize of Jericho and everything in it. Joshua and Israel still had to be brave and trust God and obey Him on how to actually receive that prize, but it was given long before they started marching around and blowing trumpets.
I wonder how many times in our own lives we see a prize that God has given, and assume it's not for us. I wonder how many times we don't even see the prize because the walls are so big. Here's the one difference - I think that in most situations, we build the walls ourselves. And if we are brave and trust God and obey His instructions, those walls can come down without taking us out as well.
I think it's scary to think about our protective walls coming down; after all, we have put them up for a reason. But then I think about the prize that is already ours - intimacy with God, gifts to accomplish our purpose in life, wisdom, knowledge, love, trust. It is likely more than I can even imagine.
All these things are already ours. It's our own walls that keep them at bay. I pray that our knowledge and trust in the goodness and faithfulness of God can overcome our own protective natures so we can truly experience intimacy with Him.
Awake, O north wind,
and come, O south wind!
Blow upon my garden,
let its spices flow.
Let my beloved come to his garden,
and eat its choicest fruits.
(Song of Songs 4:16)
