And the walls came tumbling down

As Jesus was leaving the Temple that day, one of his disciples said, “Teacher, look at these magnificent buildings! Look at the impressive stones in the walls.”

Jesus replied, “Yes, look at these great buildings. But they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!” (Mark 13: 1-2)

In Mark 13, Jesus prophesied that the Temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed. Normally, I wouldn't have gone deeper than the little study notes, and this passage would have been bypassed as historical fact.

But, when I read this passage, I wasn't in an ordinary position. I was in a place where my own walls were being destroyed, and these words spoke directly to my heart.

The Bible isn't only God's word, it is his LIVING word. That means that even verses about a long-ago temple can share truth in the world where we live.

Just like the temple builders, I spent a long time building my walls...15 years, in fact. After my brother died, I got to work...and the walls were impressive.

But, just as Jesus talked about the temple's walls being demolished, He took my walls and knocked them down in a couple fell swoops. 

Now, when I came to college, I started to understand what a living faith looked like...I was a Sunday Christian before that, and I didn't understand how detrimental that was. So, for about the last 12 years or so, my walls have been weakening as the Lord worked to free me. 

I have had successes along the way. When I lost two precious babies, God protected me from becoming embittered...which was a response to a tough situation that I had never experienced before. There have been others, too.

But I still kept the walls up. I wanted to be protected...but in that way, I was hurting. I couldn't understand why joy was elusive. I loved Jesus with all my heart. I wanted to follow hard after him...but why did my heart hurt so much? 

It all made sense this weekend as I spent uninterrupted time with the Lord at Women's Encounter. In these moments, everything came crashing down...

And I am FREE! Praise the Lord, I am Free!

(To read more, check out my Lipstick & Pearls column!)