Okay, so this is going to be a bit of a different blog. You may have noticed there wasn’t one last week and that’s because I didn’t feel I had anything to say. Usually an idea pops into my head or I hear or see something that gives me inspiration but I had nothing.
I woke very early this morning and used the time to pray. I then got thinking about this week’s blog as, yet again, I’d had no ideas up until then so I asked God what he wanted me to write about. Instantly, I had a clear picture in my mind that seemed to last only moments but conveyed an awful lot of information in that short space of time and so I feel I have little choice but to share it with you. I have no idea whether it’s for one person or will speak to many. I’m searching myself to see if it speaks to me in any way too. Let me know in the comments if you feel this means something to you.
There was a farmer standing by a wooden fence post that was positioned firmly in the ground of a field. It looked like a strong, solid post made of high quality wood. Even so, I knew he was going to dig the post up because the end that was under the ground was rotten and was going to compromise the strength of the whole fence.
I remember thinking what a shame he had to dig it up because it looked perfectly sound on the surface but, in my mind’s eye, I saw the rotten wood under ground all splintered and crumbling. Because the post was just one out of a whole fence full of posts, the picture reminded me of the gist of my pastor’s sermon on Sunday which was about us sometimes needing minimally invasive surgery to get ourselves right with God. He spoke of us not needing a sledge hammer to smash everything up and start again, but a small chisel to tap away at the rough edges.
Now fences are useful contraptions. They can keep predators out and occupants safe, they
denote boundaries, separate flocks or crops, and ensure gates are effective. The fence maybe a picture of our own lives or it might represent the whole body of Christ, either way, if one post is rotten, then the fence loses its integrity and the enemy can get in. The meaning of the picture seems quite clear: we should ask God to help us dig up and remove any areas of our lives that are rotten, even if they are not visible to others, so that our walk Him is not compromised.
Do we keep one foot in the world and it pulls us away from our calling, is there a person in our lives that takes us away from The Path and we know they are not good for us, do we have an addiction that rules our life, an interest that takes president over God, are we watching or listening to things that are not pleasing to Him?
God is gathering His people and refining us; he is preparing us for the next season and wants us to be effective; to stand firm against the enemy. Rotten wood is not strong and a rotten posts do not stand firm. Seek God and ask Him if there are any areas of your life he needs to dig up and remove and let him fill the space with His purpose, His strength, His love and His Spirit.
“Truly, truly I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by
another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out...So Jesus said to them, truly truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep...anyone who enters by me will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” John 10:1-9
-Lara
WOW. One rotten area compromises The whole fence 😰🥺
Thank you Lara for sharing this. ❤️