Up Against a Brick Wall?

Have you ever been in a situation where you have felt you were up against a brick wall and just didn’t know what to do? I’m thinking of things like work relationships, marriage difficulties, financial problems etc..

In my Christian walk there have been many times when I have found myself in an impossible and difficult situation, where there just didn’t seem to be a way forward. What I felt needed to happen seemed right by God, but I was stuck. Whether it was something practical, an inner need or whatever, but it seemed impossible.

On one occasion I shared my problem with a wise and trusted friend and said it felt like being ‘up against a brick wall’ - a phrase that just slipped out as I expressed my anguish. I suppose I thought he would tell me what to do, but I guess he sensed I was being passive in the matter. Instead he asked me, ‘What do you do when faced with a brick wall?’ I went away and wrote down all the possibilities and pondered:

1. Do nothing and let God sort it out in His time, leaving me to get on with life. This may be right for a time, but in can be a sort of denial or pretence. The truth is it doesn’t usually go away and the longer it’s ignored, the less I will be really living. I may be marking time for a while, but I will soon be going backwards.

2. Turn my back on it and walk away. That’s similar to the last and something inside told me it doesn’t work.

3. Try and find a way around it. This was an attractive proposition as it appealed to my do-it-yourself nature and ingenuity. However, all the options were soon exhausted - including myself - and I had to admit there was no way around.

4. Face it with God. Look at the situation fairly and squarely in all openness and honesty before God, including owning up to any feelings and emotions. This obvious solution may be avoided because it often involves going into ‘unknown territory.’ This may mean having to face our fears, involve confrontation or taking steps that we would rather not.

The truth is, that as we take each step God shows us, the ‘mountain’ starts to move or melt away. What seemed impossible becomes possible, because that word ‘impossible’ just isn’t in God’s vocabulary. Where there didn’t seem to be a way, a way opens up as we face the mountain. And when we come through the other side, we feel bigger and stronger in Him.

I have also found that as time goes by, the brick walls get bigger, so I pray that I will be given the grace to face them with Him.

“- for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.” Psalm107:16 “Jesus replied,

"I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done.” Matthew 21:21 New International Version

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From a Brass-bound Stump

Because of her disability, my wife 'brings her garden inside' and is a dab hand with house plants. I never cease to marvel how she can grow beautiful plants from just a piece of leaf. One of her pride and joys is a magnificent maidenhair. With it's feathery green fronds, it has centre stage in our living room.

That is, until we returned home from a few days away, to find that some of it's leaves were turning brown. She realised if it continued like that, it could whither away and die, so drastic action was called for. She had to be cruel to be kind.

The stems were cut down to within an inch of the pot and the whole thing repotted in new soil. It must have been very uncomfortable for that plant to start with, as nothing seemed to be happening. I wondered if it was dead, but my wife knew better. Several weeks later, a tiny green shoot appeared and now we have the makings of a brand new maidenhair, looking fresher, greener and livelier than ever.

When we experience loss, we can be catapulted into a potentially painful scenario. Whether the loss of employment or health, bereavement, an accident, financial difficulty or whatever, it can leave us bewildered, even devastated. We may feel the whole situation is out of our control and that part of us is dying. Initially we may be in disbelief and want to escape from the situation and get back to what was. But as we adjust to the different 'soil' and yield to God and allow the Gardener to gently tend us, we begin to see the opportunities for growth and new life.

We may not be like King Nebuchadnezzar who suffered a period of mental anguish, before God restored him, but we may feel we have been cut back to a 'brass-bound stump.' However, we can be assured that as we look to God, we will come through. Things won't be the same, part of our life may have died, but there will be a new flow of God's life in us.

"Cut down the tree and trim off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the animals flee from under it and the birds from its branches. But let the stump and its roots, bound with iron and bronze, remain in the ground, in the grass of the field." Daniel 4:14-15 New International Version

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Blossoming Through Difficulty

It's now June and I suppose I can now go out without a coat? That is if the old English saying "Ne'er cast a clout 'ere May is out!" is true? I only recently discovered that this has nothing to do with the months of the year, but refers to the May blossom. It was early this year and we had an abundance. The blossoms appeared as usual, on the bare leafless branches of the blackthorn and were a welcome and beautiful sight in spring.

Some while ago, I went through a very difficult period. Medically I wasn't sure what was happening. On top of that, the work I was involved with came to an end and I seemed to have lost any sense of being. For a while I was unable to drive and later on my walking was restricted. With all these 'props' removed, I found it all very depressing and bewildering and experienced what I called a mini-breakdown.

However, as I got used to the blackness and devastation and kept reaching out to God, He blessed me and reassured me of His presence in ways that I could never have dreamt of. Months later, after He had brought me through, I just knew He had done something concrete inside me. I began to experience a closer walk with Father and discovered talents that had remained dormant for a long time. I doubt whether any of this would have happened otherwise.

It seems that sometimes, God allows us to experience being stripped bare, to draw us closer to Him and to experience His promise, that if we put our trust in Him, we will blossom in a new way.

"He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted -- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendour." Isaiah 61:1-3 New International Version

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Knocked Down But Not Out!

Our steep seaside garden abounds in foxgloves. Although there were fewer this year, they promised to be the best ever. Their tall erect spikes looked magnificent with their purple flowers. The blooms at the base were already well formed and as the name implies, you can fit your finger tip into their delicate freckled inner.

However, torrential rain and high winds swept through our garden last weekend, while we were away. We returned home to find the foxgloves bent and flattened down to the ground, with their best blooms blown away. They looked a sorry site. My first instinct was to call it a day, pull them up and throw them on the compost heap. I decided however, to wait to see what might happen. Within a day or so, all the spiky ends of the stems had bent round, reared up, and reached for the sky. In the warmth of the sun, the remaining flower buds are already opening up. The plants don't look the same, but they have a beautiful new gracefulness, as if to say "We are not going to take it lying down, we will show you!"

We may get knocked down, flattened and battered by life's events. Perhaps a calamity, death of a loved one, serious illness or financial loss. Whatever it is, the effect upon us can be overwhelming and devastating. We may feel we'll never get through, we're finished, it is just too hard to go on. But as we look to God in our numbness, as we take the hand of Jesus, already reaching out, hope starts to rise. Slowly, as we express the pain within, we begin to be warmed and strengthened by the Son and flourish again.

Sooner or later we will be able to lift our heads and stand tall. We will not be the same, but in looking back, we will know we have come through and have discovered something new and beautiful.

Someone once remarked to me, that with Jesus, we don't fall down, we fall UP!

"He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted -- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendour." Isaiah 61:1-3 New International Version

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Moving into the New

I have mentioned this before, but there have been further developments.

We live on the Cornish coast, on the side of a narrow valley. The view of the hill opposite is fantastic, with wild gorse, buddleia and hawthorn. At least, it was until a year ago, when the new owner came long and cleared the lot with a large machine. The whole field was raised to the ground and so far as we were concerned it had been desecrated. There were rumours that it was going to be a giant building site and that caused concern, if not anxiety. As the months went by however, the green growth began to regenerate and we were lulled into a sense of false security.

This week there has been more activity, as the owner made preparations to plant vines. A vineyard is to be established, right opposite to our house! A vineyard in Cornwall is a rare thing, but in our village? Of course, with global warming these things become possible, even in our climate. We are now looking forward to our new daily view. What a beautiful and unexpected change!

Isn't this how God works in our lives? We get used to the status quo, even, perhaps getting stuck in a rut, when all the time God is moving on to something new. Things get untidy in our lives. There are unplanned, inconvenient and difficult events that come along to upset us. We pray, looking for answers, but it feels like God has abandoned us and we cannot see a way forward. We sense there may be a new phase in our lives. We may even be tempted to try and make something happen, but there does not seem anything we can do about it.

However, if we put our whole trust in God, and wait upon Him - usually a lot longer than we would like - He has a free hand to do things in our lives that we would never think possible and beyond our wildest belief. Another thing! In the waiting we become changed and prepared for this 'new thing.'

"Watch for the new thing I am going to do. It is happening already - you can see it now! I will make a road through the wilderness and give you streams of water there." Isaiah 43:19 Good News Bible

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