We build the foundation of our lives with our plans, and we build the walls with our dreams and goals.
Proverbs 16:9 says the heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
Proverbs 19:21 says many are the plans in the mind of man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
Many find their security in jobs, family, husband or wife, and money. We say to ourselves, “If I can just land that job or make enough money, I will be ok.” We build lives and make dreams based on adjectives.
Luke 14:28 says, “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?”
I, too, am guilty of making plans without consulting God first, only to be disappointed when things don’t go as planned. Then I found myself crying out to God, asking why?” God’s first response is mercy, but He’s saying to you and me, “Why didn’t you ask me first?
Leaning on our own understanding will have us tumbling down those same stairs we climbed. That’s a perfect visual of leaning on fragile walls. Proverbs 3:5-6 is clear; it says to trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Leaning on fragile walls is leaning on your own understanding. Leaning on fragile walls looks like making plans without asking God first. It looks like making plans simply based on what you want and think. There is more to life than what we desire. Life isn’t just about the things we want; it’s about the glory of God. It is through our lives that God gets all the glory.
If you know anything about building a house, you’ve heard of a “load-bearing wall”. A load-bearing wall is a structural wall that supports the weight of floors, roofs, and walls above it, transferring that load to the foundation. Jesus Christ is our load-bearing wall. 1 Corinthians 3:11 says, for no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
The big bad wolf will huff and puff and blow your house down if it’s not built on a firm foundation. The enemy is counting on us to build faulty houses with faulty foundations. He is counting on us not to listen, not to heed, and not to yield to the word of God. He is counting on us to move with haste and not count the cost. God declared in Isaiah 28:16, I have already laid the foundation, so why are you trying to start from scratch? God says, “I am the way; follow me.” I am the way, yield to me. I am the way, I can see what you can’t see. I am the way, I know what you don’t know. I am the way, I hear what you don’t hear.
Matthew 16:18 says on this rock I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Jesus Christ is our load-bearing wall; He is the firm foundation. Leaning on fragile walls costs too much. It’s not a matter of if the wall will fall; it’s a matter of when it falls. Fragile walls cost us too much wasted time, wasted peace, and wasted pearls. Anything apart from God is a fragile wall. Our dreams, hopes, and hearts’ desires are all fragile walls without God. If God isn’t going with me or ordering my steps, I’m not going, and I don’t want it. Enough of building fragile walls and inviting God into weak houses. Invite God first, then build the house. God wants to spare us so much disappointment; however, God will use that same disappointment to redirect us to where we need to go.
God has so much good for you, and I. Rejection is love. No is love. Not yet is love. Disappointment is love. Believe that love.
Blessings flow!