THE WIND’S NOT GOING TO BLOW YOU THERE — PART 3
According to some the wind is tame and blows in isolated locations. I however, believe the wind cannot be contained and blows where it pleases. If you are a dreamer and have a big vision for what is possible, I am writing to encourage you, as well as to ask you to consider what boundaries are holding you back from achieving your vision. If on the other hand, you prefer a mild wind, that you can control, I write to challenge you, as well as, to ask you to consider what boundaries are stopping you from dreaming.
We all have boundaries. Often times our boundaries are necessary for our own well being. Yet, not all boundaries need to be permanent structures.
For example if someone has hurt you in the past, it is wise and often necessary for your well being to create boundaries both in that and future relationships. Yet, over time we must lower our walls and let people back into our lives.
As a pastor for more than a decade now, I have observed the boundaries churches create. Like, I mentioned above, churches have created boundaries out of necessity. Yet, also, like the example above, church boundaries must be reevaluated, and in many cases boundaries must be removed.
Putting up walls and just leaving them there is a natural inclination we all share. After all like the great Roman Empire, our walls were not built in a day. Plus, it feels safe behind our steel reinforced walls. Behind my walls life feels safe, and I can do what I want to do, whenever I want to do it! Behind my walls, the wind never blows. Life is easy. Why would I want to mess with that?
Here is why: if we are not careful, our walls will isolate us. Our once safe structures become lonely prisons of our own making.
Our world shrinks from being a vast land of possibility to a short distance between our couch and refrigerator. Boundaries protect, but what we must realize is they also keep others out and can make us self-centered.
I believe we were created for a purpose greater than ourselves. I also believe that God has an “ideal” for our lives, but He doesn’t force us to choose the right answers. With that being said, I do believe God works with and through all of our decisions, ideal or not.
The question is not will God work, but rather, will we be open to God’s working through us.
Perhaps you feel hurt by God? Or you think God doesn’t believe in you? So you have created a boundary in your life by denying God’s existence, or by closing off parts of yourself to God. Can you conceive that these boundaries might be holding you back from achieving great things, or from being willing to dream bigger dreams?
There are still other boundaries we create that keep our relationship with God and others at bay. We can become so set in our ways that the preverbal wind can no longer lift us off the ground. There was a time when people could not imagine making it from Lexington, Kentucky to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in 3 hours. Until about six months ago I could not “imagine” it. Yet that is exactly what I did this past week. While I can’t pinpoint why, I had a mental boundary which prevented me from flying. I was stuck behind a giant wall of complacency, but no longer. Since I orginally wrote this blog in 2012 I have flown dozens of times, including a 17 hour one way trip to South Africa/Zimbabwe. By removing one boundary my world got a whole lot bigger.
What boundaries do you have, that if removed would exponentially increase the size of your world, make your vision seem attainable or help you to dream a dream bigger than yourself?