Scaling Our Spiritual Walls

“Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”

(Matthew 19:21–22, ESV)

Much like these walls at the army’s basic training, we face walls in life that seem unscalable. We feel we have worked hard and wonder why these barriers come up in front of us. Why is life this hard? When we are following Jesus, is life not supposed to be easier?

Like in the picture above, it can often feel that just as we scale one wall in life, we land only to face another one. The Lord knows what we are able to endure, and He promises to not let us face more than that. Each wall draws us to Him, depending upon His Spirit to encourage and strengthen us. Just as a rope or edges in the wall or fellow recruits will aid in scaling the walls at basic training, the Spirit gives us what we need to travel through life’s challenges in ways that keep us close with Him.

One of the ways the Spirit does this is by providing faith family. As people, we help people. As God’s people, we not only help God’s people but all people. Even when facing our own walls, we come alongside others as they face their’s. Part of loving God and loving our neighbour is remaining upwardly focused (on Him) and outwardly focused (on one another).

May you find encouragement in Christ despite the walls you are needing to scale!

For further reflection, consider listening to NCC’s sermon from February 12, 2023. Click here to locate it.