Tearing Down Fences

       I saw something the other day, not with my actual eyes, but within my mind or spirit.  The warm sun was shining down on gentle ‘rolling’ hills and grassy lands which were divided by fences.  Slowly, one by one, the fences were being removed/ torn down.  It was like the Lord was telling me that all the fences (those things that separate us) need to come down.  It’s not going to happen all at once, no matter how much I wish it, but one fence at a time.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; Eccl. 3:1,3

       Many of the fences will require effort on my part, though I’ll need His help, however, some He may choose to remove by His miraculous power.  I need to surrender all the barriers between us into His capable hands, even though some of them He expects me to work on by ripping them down myself.  The important thing is to know it wasn’t the Lord who erected the fences between us, but me.

       Over the years as I have resisted Him, rejected Him, denied His Godlike attributes, and been disappointed by His actions or lack thereof when I wanted Him to respond as I desired...  In other words, I built the fences up between us, probably thinking I was protecting myself from something at the time, but in the end those fences only serve to keep me farther away from the one who can make me whole again- in Him.

       If the power of God is able to (pull down) demolish fortresses (2Cor. 10:4), then He is surely able to help us (Ps. 115:11) when we tear down those fences we have built between us.  Though our own strength fails (Ps. 38:10; 71:9), and efforts decline, God’s strength can show perfectly in our weaknesses (2Cor. 12:9).  We can trust Him to help us with our efforts, and to show us which fences to take down at what time for He knows what we can handle (1Cor. 10:13).  Just read all the things God is to us:

The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.  Ps. 18:2

Oh Lord, please forgive me for all the fences and walls I’ve built between us.

Help me to pull down the ones I can, and use Your might with the ones I am not strong enough to do on my own.  Thank You for not shaming me for having built them, and for opening up Your arms in love and giving me a safe place of refuge where my fences can be torn down.  Lord, please rip everything down that stands in the way between us.