ANd the Walls Came Tumbling Down

"The people shouted with a great shout and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight ahead, and they took the city" (Joshua 6:20).

Hey gang, I have gained a new understanding of what these words really mean.  The rains came and the rains came and the rains came, and the walls came tumbling down.   You see, I had a retaining wall behind my house, 64 feet in length and about four feet high. This did an admirable job of holding back the dirt for twelve years but,, it like the owner of the house, no longer had the strength it did in its younger years,  and gave up the ghost. (This writer has not done that yet!)

 The end of the story- the foundation of the wall had rotted, and we all know what happens when the foundation of anything begins to fail -  we have big problems.  And Ladies and Gents, I have a big problem.  I suspect in the next month or so I am going to learn lessons on patience, how to best use the  stamina I have left in my body, and the joy of seeing even one log placed in the new wall. 

Is it not phenomenal how God uses the mundane things of the world to open our eyes of our understanding.  As I was cleaning up the mess caused from the wall failures, God reminded me of one of the experiences of Nehemiah when he returned to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem.  His actions did not set well with the local rabble rousers and harassment became a way of life for him and his wall builders.  

Sanballet and his cronies tried every diversionary tactic know to man, and few not known to man at that time, with the same results - total frustration and failure and the walls continued to rise.   Then one day, he, Sanballet and his committee of evil, tried one last tactic, they would convince Nehemiah of their desire to sit down at the peace table and work out an equitable solution to the problem.  In reality their plan was to  "to harm me" (6:2c).

Nehemiah's response came straight from the throne room of heaven, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.  Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?"  (vs. 3)  As I was dragging the last part of the old wall to the fire pit, the thought entered my mind, ‘If I had been obedient in the years of developing the village and not come down from the wall, would the fruits of my hands have brought greater honor and glory to my Abba Father?’

My friends and neighbors, my question to you this morning, ‘How are your walls?’  Perhaps more appropriate question might be "How's your boundaries?   One of the great false beliefs that has penetrated our homes and families is that it is more important to be friends with our kids than set boundaries.  There ain't nothing wrong with that: but it is not among the top goals that one must have in place to assure the young’uns turn out well. 

Soooo, It is the sincere opinion of the writer, after forty plus years of working with broken lives, that your success in preparing your child for the wildernesses they will face is following the mandates of Moses as listed in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, and how well you have established and enforced the boundaries that demonstrat you loved them enough to protect them under all circumstances.   

 Blessings,

 Gramps