"The wall. We all know it. Anyone who has ever attempted something difficult has hit it. The question is, when we regain consciousness, do we scale the wall to see what's on the other side? God help me to climb this wall!"
That was my Facebook status a while ago and since then I've been doing a lot of mediating on that idea. Here are some of my thoughts:
1. There is no wall that can truly impede us from doing the work that God would have us do.
"he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Phil. 1:6
The only thing that stands in our way is our own lack of faith. In some cases, God asks us to climb "the wall"; in others, He just tells us to walk around it until it falls down. (Heb. 11:30) Either way, God is never stopped.
2. What’s on the other side of the wall? If you don’t climb it, you can’t know. Can’t go under it, can’t go around it, can’t go through it. Gotta go over it! J
3. The great thing about climbing the wall is that we do it in God’s strength, not ours. We don’t have to worry about whether or not we have the strength to make it. It’s like walking on water. We need to fix our eyes on Christ and just put one foot in front of the other. He’ll do the rest. The reason I think that so many of us struggle with this so much is that climbing the wall means always being at the end of ourselves and dependent upon God. Nice in theory, hard in practice. We prefer to be in control of every situation we face and resent the need to depend on someone else, be outside of our comfort zones, or not have an answer.
4. Still, I thank God that during the climb He gives us landings on which to rest and observe the view. For me, one such landing in the midst of an arduous climb was a prayer retreat that I went on a few weeks ago with Spearhead. The passage that God kept whispering to my heart was Psalm 23:1-3 The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside still waters, He restores my soul…” I found that there are times during the climb that I get just totally exhausted. In those times (so far) God has carried me in one of two ways. He has either said, “My strength is made perfect in your weakness, now see what I will do," and has carried me. Or, He has drawn me away from the noise of the battle and spoken softly to me, restoring me soul and refreshing me to continue the upward journey.
5. On the same prayer retreat, our team climbed a mountain and my sage friend Jonathan observed, “The farther up you climb, the better the view is.” I am going to steal that comment for my argument. The farther you climb the barrier that is blocking your path, the better the view is of God’s faithfulness in the past, and the more you can see the complete picture of the struggle you’re going through and how it fits into God’s plan. Now granted this view is hard to see when you’re in the actual process of the ascent with sweat in your eyes and straining with all your might. The view comes when God gives times to rest and reflect on what He has done and where He has brought you.
