Glass walls

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.” Isaiah 55:8 NIV

When my friend Tim Lang was alive, you noticed when he was around. He was big and goofy. I miss everything about him. One of my favorite stories about him followed a trip he made to a local restaurant. He went in to get some food to bring to my house as he often did when he had something he wanted to talk about. He had been in this establishment maybe 50 times. He knew where the door was. Only this time he tried to go in through a side entrance. It turned out to be a glass wall. Sudden stop. He hit it so perfectly that there was a clear print of his nose and the side of his face. He worked in the oilfield, so he was dirty when he came home. This was right after work so the imprint was obvious. It took them an amazing amount of time to clean it off so every time I drove by it, I just laughed.

This story struck me this week. I have seen people I love run right into a clear wall, even when all signs point to a clear path. Prayer and thought seem to point in the same direction. I have told people to claim victory and seen them faithfully do so. Joy was waiting to bloom but turned into a grease print on a glass door. Sometimes God puts up a wall that we just cannot see until we hit it. A sudden stop. It puts us in a position of trying to explain things to make people feel better, but sometimes the detours just do not make sense. Why?

If God made all paths clear to us so that we would not have any false starts, wouldn’t that be better? If we knew that once we have a relationship with Jesus all things would be made known, it seems like even more people would follow Him. So why do we encounter these sudden stops?

Frankly, it is simple, we are not equal to God. God has ways that are not ours. If I think about raising our kids, we tried to provide for them. However, we sometimes withheld information or things from them because they were as smart as a rock in certain areas. I have told Aly that whenever she hands us our first grandchild that I will open up the box of secrets. She will need to know how we figured out some of the things we ended up derailing because we knew she was in a dangerous or unwanted place. She is going to be mad at some, happy for some and hopefully smart enough to use her own version when needed.

I evaluate success or failure far too often. I also use an earthbound measuring stick to calculate a heavenly equation. Sometimes I use a heavenly measuring stick to calculate an earthly outcome. If I get rejected by a person, a job or a situation but show trust in Him, is that not victorious? If my neighbor’s yard is nicer or his car is cleaner, why should that register? If my competition in business sees me falter but I have inward peace in spite of it, God may be happy with the result. If I beat my competition in business, am I a better steward if my family has not seen me in a week?

There is a tension between the world we live in and the God we serve. How content are we when the world is kicking our butt?

There are people all around us who feel defeated. How driven are we to help them find victory?

Challenge: Think of a time when a door got slammed but the outcome ended up being good for you in the end. Be aware that struggling here may be victory there, victory in Jesus indeed.

Rick Claiborn