No, I'm not talking about when you have been pushed a bit to far and hit an actual wall. That would be easy to talk about. You shouldn't hit the wall for fear of injuring yourself and the wall. I'm talking about the spiritual, psychological, and emotional walls we hit in everyday life. I have limits as most people do. Some are spiritual, some are psychological and some are emotional. There are also some limits on me physically. I'd like to be able to lift 300 pounds. That's not going to happen anytime soon. I'd like to not have things from my past bother me and interrupt my life. That's not going to happen either. I'd like to be able to lift myself above depression and live what others call a "normal" life. Then I found out that "normal" is a setting on your dryer! Some days I hit the wall in every area I just identified. It makes it difficult to go through the day and sometimes that particular hour when I hit the wall.
The Israelites were tasked with entering the promised land and taking over that land. God had said he would go with them. The people were marching across the sand and someone asked Joshua how they were going to take this city. Understand this was a large city that was surrounded with two wall. The outer wall was wide enough that 2 chariots were able to go around it side by side without touching each other. There was a space between the outer wall and the inner wall. The inner wall was a strong secondary defense but not so big. These walls were thought to be at least 20 feet high. The inner wall had built in housing where people lived. Rahab the harlot was one such person. She had hidden the Israelite spies and then let them out of the city so they wouldn't be caught and killed. Inside the walls was the city. Many of the homes were multiple and single rooms all connected together like some condo units here in the world. The population was dense and the city itself was thriving. Enter the little Israelites coming up to the gate demanding they surrender. God said, have a party and the walls will fall down. Imagine this city where it took multiple days to go around being the object of God's directions. Ridiculous! The Israelites had hit a wall.
Daniel was taken into captivity and then trained to be a young leader of his captors. Only problem was that Daniel refused to dishonor God by worshipping any other god. Daniel's wall? He had to choose to be true to his faith or to abandon his faith. All of our choices have consequences and Daniel was no different. His consequence was to be cast into the lions den where certain death faced him. So, he had his last meal and was marched to the opening of the lion's den. He had hit his wall. Jesus was faced with every temptation that mankind is subject to. He had his wall as well. He went to the garden with his faithful followers to pray. He asked them to wait and pray while he went a ways away and prayed as well. He knew that the time had come when he would be betrayed into the hands of the enemy and asked the Father to take the cup from him. BUT not his will be the will of the Father be done. Peter was crucified upside down. John was thrust into a vat of boiling oil. Paul was stoned and put in prison. Steven was killed by stoning. The list goes on and on. If you are a human being expect to hit a wall. If you are a Christian human being expect to hit a wall. No one is excluded from this phenomena.
If you are a non-believer the reality of a "wall" situation is different than for those who know God. The ability of the Israelites and you and I to call upon a God for whom nothing is impossible puts us one up over the non-believer. God is our deliverer and our strength. He puts his path before us and ushers us through life by the power of the Holy Spirit. With God there is no wall. None! He has through Jesus taken the walls away. Pay particular attention here. If the walls have been taken down we no longer need to live in the "box". The world lives in a box. Christians have no box. There is no end to the love and grace of God. The blessings of God are poured out on us more than we can count or measure. How did those previously listed conquer the wall? The did a couple of things. The remembered what God had already done in their lives. The second thing they did was to believe that God would do it again. The third and final thing they did was they took action. They obeyed and the walls fell down.
Just as it was their choice, it's also your choice today.
No comments:
Post a Comment