“The first key to thriving is to focus on building the wall in front of you.”- Banning Liebscher
“Above the Horse Gate, the priests made repairs, each in front of his own house.”- Nehemiah 3:28 (NIV)
In Chapter 2 (“Thriving in the Process”) of Rooted, Banning Liebscher believes it’s possible not only to thrive, but thrive in the midst of your embrace of God’s process and time for root-building. Therefore, like Paul, we must find God our strength in every situation. To do so, we must know where to look and how to continue to look in the face of Satan’s distractions. Typically, Pastor Liebscher notes, the Enemy’s distractions try to get us to:
- wish we were in someone else’s process
- resist the lessons God’s trying to teach us in our circumstances
- rush the process
- skip steps in the process
Consequently, falling for any one of these distractions prevents us from thriving. In addition, ultimately we find ourselves in dangerous places. However, avoiding these deceptions enables us to find our strength – God. And we grow regardless of the season or circumstance.
In conclusion, Banning underscores, Nehemiah 3:28 paints a powerful picture for how God works in our lives. Yet, sometimes we miss what He’s doing right in front of us. Because we gaze longingly at other people’s portions of the wall. We want to build in those areas. As a result, we fail to see that God’s using what is right in front of us to develop the root system we so desperately need. Thus, our need for significance makes us look at other areas that (a) feel more exciting or (b) more in line with our vision.
We must accept the place where God has put us or we’ll never thribe. For that’s the only place God works with us.
Today’s question: How are you thriving as you focus on building the wall in front of you? Please share.
Tomorrrow’s blog: “Faithfulness to build the wall”
