Walls....

It seems like God has put me in contact lately with so many people who put up walls. And again and again I see that it's not something the person meant to do, but something has happened to them that caused them to kick into protect mode. And as much as that is our natural instinct to protect, that doesn't necessarily mean it's the healthiest thing for us to do. In fact, the very walls we build around us to protect us probably cause more damage than they do good.
Think about the purpose of a wall. It is there to either keep something in or keep something out, but in both causes it is there to create separation. Take a home for example. We build walls around our home to give us a safe and climate controlled place to be. A place that we can go to to get away from the rest of the world and the storms that come our way. A place where the things that are behind the walls are ours and we don't have to share or expose those things to anyone else. Our home becomes "our space". But just like staying locked up in your home and secluding yourself from the outside world is not healthy for you, neither is staying behind the emotional and social walls that we build.
From most of the people I have come in contact with, I've seen that the walls they build are due to trust issues. Which typically will come from some deep pain that was caused by someone else. But what we must realize is that people are imperfect and hurt people will typically hurt people. Damaged people will/can damage other people. But if we build walls around ourselves every time someone hurts us or lets us down, we are doing damage to ourselves that has no effect on the person who actually hurt us. But it will have negative impact on future relationships and people who have not done anything to us. So how do we avoid this? How do we trust again? How do we learn to put ourselves back out there knowing that we risk getting hurt again? We trust God and not people....
I know that's way easier to say than it is to do. And I know the first thing that comes to a person's mind who does have walls is "...but you don't know what I've been through". And you are right. I do not, but God does. And if anyone can help you and heal you it is Him. Who knows better than Him what it feels like to trust someone with something you care so much about, only to watch them trample all over it and destroy. He did trust this world with His son....and He did have to watch as this world destroyed the very thing He trusted them with.
If I had to go back through all my blogs and see a piece of scripture that I have referenced the most, it may be Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding". And as many times as I have read that verse, today something different stood out to me as I thought about walls. The verse says trust Him with your heart, the very thing we want to protect. Then it says to do this by not leaning on your own understanding...which would be your mind. The very thing that tells us we need to build walls...our mind. So God is saying "stop letting your mind get in the way of Me and your heart". Your mind is always going to try to use common sense, reason and logic to get you to react and put up walls. But the heart must rely on faith and trust to not react ...and let God take over. Psalms 56:3-4 is also a scripture that I feel speaks directly to us when we have that urge to throw up a wall. It says "When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?" To be able to say "what can flesh do to me?" is to put your complete trust in God. It is when we are afraid that our minds again tell us that we must do something to protect ourselves. But Godly wisdom says you are doing something, you're trusting God. And that is the best thing you can do! Let Go....Let God!
God, Thank You that we can trust You to protect us. Thank You that you, the maker of our heart and soul, have given us instructions in Your Word on what to do when fear kicks in. Help us to not react when hurt people hurt us, but instead give us strength to trust You and pray for them. And help us God to allow You to help us remove any and all walls we have put up. If those walls have caused damage in our current relationships, please begin the healing process so all of our relationships can be as you designed the to be. In Jesus name, Amen