Have you ever had one of those nights when you just couldn't sleep? You tossed and turned, just barely getting in some "naps" along the way. I usually sleep the first four hours pretty soundly and get a great deal of my rest within those four hours. Then I find myself sleeping "lightly" for the remainder of my night - usually another three hours. God gives rest to his kids - the secret is to stop long enough to understand and enjoy the rest. I actually do very well on seven hours of "physical" rest, but there are times when it seems like I don't take the time to get the "spiritual" rest I need. I am setting myself up for a huge crash whenever this occurs. You might just say I experience one of those "unless" moments - unless I stop, I will run headlong into something I'd probably not want to face! How about you? Experienced any of those "unless" moments in your life lately?
If God doesn’t build the house, the builders only build shacks. If God doesn’t guard the city, the night watchman might as well nap.
It’s useless to rise early and go to bed late, and work your worried fingers to the bone. Don’t you know he enjoys giving rest to those he loves? (Psalm 127:1-2 MSG)
The idea of "unless" is the presentation of an "exception". When I have had computer crashes, I get this screen which gives me one of those "exception" messages - if you want to start "normally", hit this key, or you can start in "safe mode". It is an "unless" moment - you can start "normally" UNLESS you think something more major is going on and you need to take time to fix it before you do! Today, we are faced with two "unless" moments: Unless the Lord builds a house and Unless the Lord protects the city.
Unless the Lord builds the house....we get shacks! In order to understand this, we need to stop long enough to consider what goes into building.
First, there are plans and designs. Without these, no amount of building actually will produce anything of significant and lasting quality. God actually has plans for our lives, but I wonder how long we stop to consider allowing him to unfold those plans for us. The other day I was on my way to work and saw a workman's drafted plans had fallen out of his truck - they were in the middle of the street. I thought for a moment how bad his day was going to go without those plans. If we stop to consider it, UNLESS we know and follow the plans God has for us, we will only be building shacks!
Second, the building needs an allocation of resources. No building actually occurs with only the plans - the builder needs the resources to build with. God provides the resources we need in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ. Yet, so many times we choose to "allocate" resources within our lives ourselves. The rub...these resources are far inferior to those provided by the master craftsman.
Third, there must be a provision of a building crew - no building actually occurs with just two hands. Some of the tasks might be manageable with only two hands, but try holding up a wall on your own, nailing it down, and starting on the trusses of the roof all without any assistance. God's building crew consists of his Holy Spirit as foreman and his ministering angels (his other kids) in our lives. We need the entire crew to get the job done.
Fourth, there will be times of periodic inspection - this is just part of building. The purpose of the inspection is not to shut us down, but to verify the progress of the work according to the plans. The inspector actually examines the plans, compares the work done "to date" and validates the building is true to the plans, or needs some subtle adjustments to ensure completion in a correct manner.
Fifth, the building is fitted with decoration - a form of adornment. God doesn't just put up a shell of a building - he outfits it with the finest of interior and exterior design. You might say he adorns us - with garments of praise and robes of righteousness.
Sixth, the builder focuses on the landscaping. Once the majority of the building is completed, he turns his attention to sculpting the perfect "landscape" which not only provides protection, but gives us a little sense of his watchfulness over our lives. A well-planned garden will provide much enjoyment.
Last, the final building is inhabited by its new owners. The splendor is greater than ever before when the "purpose" of the building actually begins to accommodate the one for whom it was built in the first place.
Unless the Lord protects a city...the night watchman might as well nap. Having pulled guard duty in the military, I know how shameful it is to fall asleep while on duty. Letting your guard down for even a short period of time can open up the "guarded place" to all kinds of riff-raff. We can station all kinds sentries in our lives:
- Those that act as dividing walls protecting us from outside influence - but we never grow in God's wisdom and the choices of our will are not challenged when we put up these walls.
- The sentry of self-will, keeping all others and all manner of health from the benefits of the protection within. As long as we determine to be the sentry over our own lives, we limit the potential of the grandeur of the city itself.
- The sentry of pride which will never stand the test of hard winds and stampeding armies. Pride is merely a display - take away all the fancy facades and you are left with nothing.
God's protection over our lives cannot be short-circuited. We need his skill to bring us outside of the walls we erect, so we can experience the challenges he has designed to help us grow. We need his gentle graces to break down the self-determination of "personal control" - for no amount of "personal control" ever produces the products of grace in our lives. We need his strong arm to hold at bay the desires of our flesh to present only the superficial facades of change - he looks much deeper and wants what he has created within to be on display, not our pretend images of his life-transformation.
Unless...a powerful word of contrast. Unless...anything less than is just not good enough for one of his kids. Just sayin!
A daily study in the Word of God. Simple, life-transforming tools to help you grow in Christ.
Showing posts with label Walls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Walls. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Friday, November 22, 2013
Wedges and Walls
There is much power which comes as we learn to walk together in unity. I think we all know how truly difficult it is to actually be and stay in unity, though. Deep, intimate relationships require a different commitment than mere acquaintances. Friendships help to sustain us and keep us on track. How we view each relationship kind of tells us a little bit about what we may actually invest into and take away from them. We may find some actually are an ordeal for us because they demand more than we want to really put into them, but does that make them unnecessary relationships? Some may seem like a big deal to us, but does that make them worthy of special attention while neglecting others? Other relationships seem like they are kind of ideal, almost making us want to be exclusionary within those relationships, but doesn't that isolate us from the other types of relationships which might actually help us chip away some of the rough edges in our character? I think we might just need all three!
You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17 MSG)
While connection is important, reconnection is sometimes more important! I don't believe God wants us to isolate ourselves from those relationships which are kind of an ordeal for us - because they have something within them we need to learn. Relationships which we might classify as an "ordeal" are those which seem to always be extremely severe in their ability to "test" us in some fashion. We actually need this "testing" in order to develop some character trait we might not have developed any other way. To neglect these "severe" relationships is to cut ourselves us from the very thing we need for our growth. So, how do we "reconnect" with someone whose relationship with us has become a big ordeal and with whom we may have chosen to just pull away rather than make the effort to stay connected?
First, I think it takes some real courage to even admit you have pulled away. When two people deal with the "hard" parts of relationship by saying it is too big of an ordeal to actually work on the things pulling them apart, there is an opportunity to allow those "hard parts" to actually smooth off some rough edges in our character. One of the things which drives a wedge between two people quicker than you might imagine is when either of us become defensive in the relationship. When stuff is too hard to deal with at the moment, it is very easy to get a little defensive about our behavior, choices, etc. We might imagine another's focus on something in our lives as a little too intrusive and even a little "nit-picky". Regardless, defenses go us and we get nowhere when these walls just remain in place.
If you don't recognize the "walls" quickly, you will allow them to be reinforced by future actions and responses to behaviors within the relationship. Fear causes us to become defensive - we don't like being exposed, so we build up what we believe will "cover over" the area we feel the most exposed within. Walls might be manifest by being overtly sarcastic with another - allowing the sarcasm to take the focus off the area for just a little bit. Another method of wall-erecting is when we push others away with our anger. Any wall only drives people away - most will not choose to "scale the wall", but will be turned away by it! It is the rare friend who will actually make the effort to scale the wall and a real friend who will help you dismantle it once they get on the other side of that huge wall!
Second, I think dealing with others in relationship requires the ability to see things as the other person sees them. This is why I like the idea of using a friend as a "sounding board" of sorts. I bounce ideas off a friend because the friend actually might just not be seeing things quite the way I do at the moment. Some of us need someone outside of our "box" to help us see there are choices outside of the box we have confined ourselves within. As long as all we can see is the inside of the box, we will never know what the outside holds for us. A friend can help us see things from the outside of the box - giving us perspective we do not possess on our own. Some of the toughest relationships require us to see things outside of our box. If you stop to think about it, a box is really just another set of walls we have established. The walls of a box only serve to confine us - the ability to break free from the confines of seeing things only from your limited perspective is not just healthy, it is wise!
You may not realize this, but when you actually can see things another sees and the way they see them, you are breaking down walls which would have otherwise torn you apart. Part of seeing things the way another sees them is the ability to allow the things which have become "wedge drivers" within the relationship to be removed. Where there is no wedge, the distance between two objects is free to return to being joined again. Just sayin!
You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17 MSG)
While connection is important, reconnection is sometimes more important! I don't believe God wants us to isolate ourselves from those relationships which are kind of an ordeal for us - because they have something within them we need to learn. Relationships which we might classify as an "ordeal" are those which seem to always be extremely severe in their ability to "test" us in some fashion. We actually need this "testing" in order to develop some character trait we might not have developed any other way. To neglect these "severe" relationships is to cut ourselves us from the very thing we need for our growth. So, how do we "reconnect" with someone whose relationship with us has become a big ordeal and with whom we may have chosen to just pull away rather than make the effort to stay connected?
First, I think it takes some real courage to even admit you have pulled away. When two people deal with the "hard" parts of relationship by saying it is too big of an ordeal to actually work on the things pulling them apart, there is an opportunity to allow those "hard parts" to actually smooth off some rough edges in our character. One of the things which drives a wedge between two people quicker than you might imagine is when either of us become defensive in the relationship. When stuff is too hard to deal with at the moment, it is very easy to get a little defensive about our behavior, choices, etc. We might imagine another's focus on something in our lives as a little too intrusive and even a little "nit-picky". Regardless, defenses go us and we get nowhere when these walls just remain in place.
If you don't recognize the "walls" quickly, you will allow them to be reinforced by future actions and responses to behaviors within the relationship. Fear causes us to become defensive - we don't like being exposed, so we build up what we believe will "cover over" the area we feel the most exposed within. Walls might be manifest by being overtly sarcastic with another - allowing the sarcasm to take the focus off the area for just a little bit. Another method of wall-erecting is when we push others away with our anger. Any wall only drives people away - most will not choose to "scale the wall", but will be turned away by it! It is the rare friend who will actually make the effort to scale the wall and a real friend who will help you dismantle it once they get on the other side of that huge wall!
Second, I think dealing with others in relationship requires the ability to see things as the other person sees them. This is why I like the idea of using a friend as a "sounding board" of sorts. I bounce ideas off a friend because the friend actually might just not be seeing things quite the way I do at the moment. Some of us need someone outside of our "box" to help us see there are choices outside of the box we have confined ourselves within. As long as all we can see is the inside of the box, we will never know what the outside holds for us. A friend can help us see things from the outside of the box - giving us perspective we do not possess on our own. Some of the toughest relationships require us to see things outside of our box. If you stop to think about it, a box is really just another set of walls we have established. The walls of a box only serve to confine us - the ability to break free from the confines of seeing things only from your limited perspective is not just healthy, it is wise!
You may not realize this, but when you actually can see things another sees and the way they see them, you are breaking down walls which would have otherwise torn you apart. Part of seeing things the way another sees them is the ability to allow the things which have become "wedge drivers" within the relationship to be removed. Where there is no wedge, the distance between two objects is free to return to being joined again. Just sayin!
Thursday, December 27, 2012
What mighty walls, Jericho!
Have you ever read the story of the storming of Jericho? It begins with the statement: "Jericho was shut up tight as a drum because of the People of Israel: no one going in, no one coming out." (Joshua 6:1 MSG) Now, let me paint a little picture for you of Jericho, for as I do, you will see just how amazing it was that Israel actually "halted" the activity of this great city just by their presence!
First, its location was in the western part of the Jordan valley just above the Dead Sea. It was known as the city of palms because it was filled with the trees. For anyone to pass through the valley of Jordan, they had to first pass through Jericho. It was like a natural "toll station" for all travelers of the time.
Second, its fortifications were massive. The outside "city wall" was six-feet thick, separated by a space of about twelve feet from the inner wall which was double the thickness of the outer wall. For those who would attempt to lay siege to this great city, over 18 feet of thick stone awaited them! The most impressive part of the walls were their height - over thirty feet high. So, in total, two walls, one six by thirty feet, the other twelve by thirty!
Our understanding is there were some homes between the two walls, but the greatest amount of homes were inside the second wall. Probably some merchants and some of the soldiers who defended this great city lived in the outer wall homes. These were made of something similar to what we'd call adobe brick these days - sod and grass packed so tightly as to give them great endurance against the elements and insulation against the heat.
What makes the story most amazing is "how" the walls came down. Yesterday, if you read my blog, you will recall us learning a little bit about the idea of the power of our words. Israel surrounded Jericho, for a period of six days without uttering even one word! They'd walk around the city, just as one unified group of people, but silent - not a peep heard. Imagine being one of the guards on the great wall of Jericho, seeing this huge group of immigrants from Egypt, marching around in silence! You'd probably thought they'd lost their marbles!
If you were going to lay siege to a city this fortified, I imagine you'd expect to see Joshua commanding the troops to begin to muster their weapons, sharpen their swords, and erect some catapults to launch some stones of warfare against this might fortress. The guards on the city wall did not see any of this kind of activity, so imagine their surprise, and the surprise of the inhabitants of this city when all of a sudden on the seventh day the people of Israel erupted in a shout! At first, I imagine they giggled to themselves, thinking this group of "cowards" had lost their minds. Then, almost quicker than they could gather their own senses, the walls began to shake! What seemed like pretty solid footing - a rock-solid defense - became the undoing of a city!
The power of a word spoken in the right time, in the right frame of mind, with the backing of God - now there's a "rocking" offense! As they shouted in one unified voice, God's presence going before them, they began to see first one stone fall to the ground, then another, until the wall was nothing more than a flattened mound unable to protect even a mouse!
There is much the story of Jericho can teach us. First, the power of obedience. I imagine Joshua met more than a few glaring looks from his Israelite companions when he shared the idea of circling this great city with nothing more than the presence of God before them and their "silent" marching for six days! And then he asked for seven laps on the seventh! Yet, they did it! They submitted to the plan of God - obedience in action is a powerful tool.
Second, the power of our silence. I imagine this six days gave the Israelites many opportunities to focus on the one out front - God himself! The priests were carrying the "ark of the covenant". The ark was the place where God "connected" with his people - the place of his presence. So, as they circled, he led the way! The power of God's presence in the right perspective in our lives is something we'd all do well to learn - him first, us second.
Last, but not least, I want us to consider the power of praise. I don't believe they broke their silence in just "words" without meaning. The scripture tells us, "...they gave a thunderclap shout." They had marched around the city seven times on the seventh day - then culminated the seventh "lap" with this huge thunderclap shout. I'd like to think the shout they lifted was one of praise - for they were focused on what God was about to do! The lips of God's people would do well to be silent when silence is the best plan - then to thunder loudly when praise is about to bring the walls down!
Sometimes it is nice to revisit some of our Old Testament stories just to see the lessons God provided as a memorial for us to learn from. Now, consider the walls of defense you face today. Obedience, silence, and praise - let them be your offense against those walls! Just sayin!
First, its location was in the western part of the Jordan valley just above the Dead Sea. It was known as the city of palms because it was filled with the trees. For anyone to pass through the valley of Jordan, they had to first pass through Jericho. It was like a natural "toll station" for all travelers of the time.
Second, its fortifications were massive. The outside "city wall" was six-feet thick, separated by a space of about twelve feet from the inner wall which was double the thickness of the outer wall. For those who would attempt to lay siege to this great city, over 18 feet of thick stone awaited them! The most impressive part of the walls were their height - over thirty feet high. So, in total, two walls, one six by thirty feet, the other twelve by thirty!
Our understanding is there were some homes between the two walls, but the greatest amount of homes were inside the second wall. Probably some merchants and some of the soldiers who defended this great city lived in the outer wall homes. These were made of something similar to what we'd call adobe brick these days - sod and grass packed so tightly as to give them great endurance against the elements and insulation against the heat.
What makes the story most amazing is "how" the walls came down. Yesterday, if you read my blog, you will recall us learning a little bit about the idea of the power of our words. Israel surrounded Jericho, for a period of six days without uttering even one word! They'd walk around the city, just as one unified group of people, but silent - not a peep heard. Imagine being one of the guards on the great wall of Jericho, seeing this huge group of immigrants from Egypt, marching around in silence! You'd probably thought they'd lost their marbles!
If you were going to lay siege to a city this fortified, I imagine you'd expect to see Joshua commanding the troops to begin to muster their weapons, sharpen their swords, and erect some catapults to launch some stones of warfare against this might fortress. The guards on the city wall did not see any of this kind of activity, so imagine their surprise, and the surprise of the inhabitants of this city when all of a sudden on the seventh day the people of Israel erupted in a shout! At first, I imagine they giggled to themselves, thinking this group of "cowards" had lost their minds. Then, almost quicker than they could gather their own senses, the walls began to shake! What seemed like pretty solid footing - a rock-solid defense - became the undoing of a city!
The power of a word spoken in the right time, in the right frame of mind, with the backing of God - now there's a "rocking" offense! As they shouted in one unified voice, God's presence going before them, they began to see first one stone fall to the ground, then another, until the wall was nothing more than a flattened mound unable to protect even a mouse!
There is much the story of Jericho can teach us. First, the power of obedience. I imagine Joshua met more than a few glaring looks from his Israelite companions when he shared the idea of circling this great city with nothing more than the presence of God before them and their "silent" marching for six days! And then he asked for seven laps on the seventh! Yet, they did it! They submitted to the plan of God - obedience in action is a powerful tool.
Second, the power of our silence. I imagine this six days gave the Israelites many opportunities to focus on the one out front - God himself! The priests were carrying the "ark of the covenant". The ark was the place where God "connected" with his people - the place of his presence. So, as they circled, he led the way! The power of God's presence in the right perspective in our lives is something we'd all do well to learn - him first, us second.
Last, but not least, I want us to consider the power of praise. I don't believe they broke their silence in just "words" without meaning. The scripture tells us, "...they gave a thunderclap shout." They had marched around the city seven times on the seventh day - then culminated the seventh "lap" with this huge thunderclap shout. I'd like to think the shout they lifted was one of praise - for they were focused on what God was about to do! The lips of God's people would do well to be silent when silence is the best plan - then to thunder loudly when praise is about to bring the walls down!
Sometimes it is nice to revisit some of our Old Testament stories just to see the lessons God provided as a memorial for us to learn from. Now, consider the walls of defense you face today. Obedience, silence, and praise - let them be your offense against those walls! Just sayin!
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