5603 Powercat Pl, Manhattan, KS, United States
August 1. Are Walls Keeping You Safe?
Think about who and why you keep people in and out.
There is a good read titled, "How the Mighty Fall" by Jim Collins. As leaders of families, companies, and teams we might expect some falling to occur. Instead of an accidental fall, maybe we can focus on what we can start making to fall on purpose. Our why is our most important value proposition.
What is consistently getting in between it and your team, your family, or your customers? Can we design a means of dismantling whatever walls are blocking or obstructing our purpose? If it is not a wall we want, we can break it down, or weaken it on purpose and allow it to fall.
We have some trees at our vineyard in which their trunks were cut or scored so that they would stop growing and fall. The scoring was a way to let them fall. Engineers have put dams on rivers in gorges around the world to create hydroelectric power. The river rises, then it falls, and does so on purpose as it creates power to provide light to the world.
As a leader, I think that we do get to choose which walls are going to be part of our organizations and systems. Some walls were started for protection but can eventually become restrictions to our path of future growth. If our walls are not for us, then they are against us. What is the largest wall that needs to fall to further your progress?
What is the first thing that you can do about it in the next seven days?
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have a great opportunity to recognize our challenges. Do you remember King Nebuchadnezzar? “Then his army burned the Temple of God, tore down the walls of Jerusalem, burned all the palaces, and completely destroyed everything of value.” 2 Chronicles 36:19 NLT.
The King of Babylon came and destroyed all of Israel and left the land desolate for seventy years. It might be very difficult for us to destroy our own walls, especially the walls of sin in our lives. But we have the power of the Holy Spirit with us that can destroy the walls of our sin that get built around us.
We do not have to accept that our bad habits are just how we are. We may choose to tear down even the longest and strongest of the walls that we have lived with. It simply takes us to do a flip, to do an intervention on ourselves to decide to let those walls fall.
Once that is decided, we can begin to take action to start pulling out a stone here, scraping away some mortar there, and allowing the power of the flood waters of God to push against those walls. The cleansing water of God is offered to us daily. What wall have you allowed to stand in your path of faith?
Are you ready for it to come down? Who are the most important people that you can share your readiness to have the wall come down? Let us focus on the one step we can achieve whether it is a first chip at the mortar, the pulling of a stone or the crushing blow of the wrecking ball.
What is the first thing that you can do about it in the next seven days?
Let us pray, Heavenly Father, walls are all around us. Some are visible and others are invisible. We have allowed them to have power over us. Today, Father, we ask that you guide us as we examine our walls. Some we thought were keeping something out and away from us, protecting us.
Open our eyes to recognize that some walls have been keeping us from a deeper relationship with Christ. Send your cleansing power, send your water. Make the walls come tumbling down and may you be glorified as we stand upon the rubble. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen,
