There has been so much talk about walls in the recent months. The walls of security are built to protect and secure certain areas to keep intruders and trouble out. I agree with our President that we need a barrier to protect our nation’s borders, but when it comes to walls around our individual lives we need to think before we begin to build them. At some point, all of us build walls around our lives. Some walls are built to keep people “out” of our lives to protect us from being hurt in dealing with them. Some walls are built to wall people “in” our lives so we can control their actions and gain more control over them. The fact is that we can’t live on planet earth without being hurt by people’s actions and words. We can’t control other’s lives closely enough to not be disappointed by their actions. Walls only seclude us from the real world and bring no lasting satisfaction. God has promised to be our protection and our healer when we are injured from other’s actions. (Jeremiah 30:17 But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the Lord, because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.) I’ve been blessed to minister to some really good people in my life. I have worshipped, ate, laughed, cried, enjoy life, and have been disappointed by the same person sometimes. I am sure they would say the same thing about me. The truth is that we get hurt and we hurt one another in this life because none of us are perfect. If we built a wall around our life every time we were afraid we were going to get hurt, we would live such a confined life and secluded life that we would be useless to the Kingdom of God. Look at the barriers you have built around your heart. Are they really helpful or have they just secluded you from living your life. Read this verse again, God has promised to heal our wounds and give us Grace to live our lives out in the open. Come out from your hiding place and let the world know whom you serve. Pastor Don [image: image.png]