I once took a psychology class that discussed the purpose of life experience. According to the discussion, one of the benefits of life experiences is the ability to navigate the world effectively. Just think about the old axiom concerning the stove: “if you touch a hot stove, you’ll get burned.” Therefore, from an early age we learn to be careful around the stove and other objects that hold or produce heat. Nothing teaches a lesson quite as well as a good experience! Experience helps us to accept and discover who we are—our strengths and weakness—and encourages us into the confidence of who we are becoming.
However, there is a side-effect from life experience that must be looked at. Sometimes, experience can hinder us from forward movement. Many of us have heard the stories of people who have had experiences, whether negative or positive, that ended with them being stuck in the same place for years. It can be an experience as traumatic as abuse or as casual as a conversation. Some women hate men because of their negative experiences with a few. Some people avoid social situations because of one experience that left them feeling inadequate or judged. On and on the list can go! I imagine it as a wall that we build around ourselves to help define a zone of isolation. Each experience produces a brick or bricks that we place around us to keep us isolated from what is hard or difficult or challenging.
Walls are not always bad. In the Bible, we see many examples of walls representing the protection and fortification of God’s chosen people. There are several instances of declaration regarding the restoration of temple wall. These walls are good. They protect what is sacred. They defend what is valuable. Their purpose is to define the territory of the people of God for those inside and outside of the walls—not to isolate the people of God. With these walls, You know who you are; those around you know who you are. You don’t compromise who you are based on circumstances and situation, and you protect who you are from outside influence.
One of the most notable references to walls in the Bible is the story of the city of Jericho. This is the story of how God taught his people how to bring walls down. And my favorite part of this story is found in the last part of Joshua 6, verse 5. God was instructing them regarding what should take place once the walls fell: “and then all of the soldiers are to charge straight ahead.” What a powerful image! The walls fall and the opportunity to move forward and seize territory is opened before them!
The first verse of Joshua 6 says, “The gates of Jericho were kept tightly shut because the people were afraid of the Israelis; no one was allowed to go in or out.” Imagine you are the city of Jericho. You have fortified yourself behind walls of fear, disappointment, hurt, rejection, failure, and pain. Brick by brick you’ve covered yourself and your potential, preventing your ability to move forward and removing yourself from the fullness of God’s healing influence. But, just like God delivered Jericho in to the hands of Joshua, God wants to deliver you into your greater. He wants to deliver you from the fears that have kept you isolated and immobile. He is always bringing you into experiences that ask you, “are you ready to bring down the walls?”
Look at your life. Where are the walls? Where have you isolated yourself and suffocated your ability to see beyond your experience into His grace and purpose? There is so much territory for you, but it is beyond your walls! It’s now time to breach the walls. Let’s make a commitment to disassembling our wall of isolation and fear one brick at a time.
I once heard someone say that relationships are for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. That was many years ago. It was a preacher–of that I am sure (probably TD Jakes). I was in my late twenties and just starting to fully understand the nature and importance of healthy relationships. All these years later, I still view my friendships through this lens. When a relationship slips outside of the circle wherein I extend my intimate trust to others, I become a forensic investigator. There has to be a “why.” Invariably, I find a number of episodes, incidences, or statements that could easily stand as a sufficient reason for the time and energy I spent on and shared with them. When the color and hardiness dissipates from a once vibrant, robust attachment, I can always point to a shift in my life or a change in either of our circumstances that signaled the fading. Then there are those who wind there way through your heart and infuse themselves into the fabric of your life. They follow its rhythm–the ebb and flow, up and down–retreating, advancing, or standing still in concert with you as necessary.
I AM BECOMING 