In the summer, I often see brightly colored lizards dashing under my flowerpots. If my dog, Memphis, spots them, he chases them into the garage.
When Memphis sniffs their trails, the electric-blue lizards flash straight upward; they scurry up the garage walls without second thoughts to their ability or their safety.
I marvel at these little lizards because I’m paralyzed by heights. Only three rungs up a ladder and I break out in a full-body sweat. Forget the dizzying heights of a roller coaster — I’m a proud land-dweller. Security is my daily pursuit.
Yet in my emotional and spiritual life, I’ve run up against many walls. Chased by armies of fear, doubt and insecurity, I didn’t think I could go any further. My job prospects seemed like a dead end. My marriage problems felt too difficult to overcome. Even my faith felt like it had gone downhill.
However, every single time I cry out to God for help when I bump up against a wall, He empowers me to scale it just like the bright lizards do. God wants us to move up our walls, not go around them or stay stuck at their bases. When we move up our walls, we move closer to God and give Him greater glory.
David was a mighty warrior in the Bible. Surely, during his years of running from King Saul and defeating enemy armies, he must have experienced the ancient equivalent of today’s basic military training. He was certainly strong and capable. Yet at a point of celebration of victory over his foes, David praised God:
“In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall” (2 Samuel 22:30).
How difficult it must have been for David to climb walls without sophisticated equipment. The task would have required enormous physical and mental strength. Yet David did not take credit for any of his natural or acquired abilities. He operated in God’s strength and invited God’s presence into his struggles.
David wrote these metaphors not only for military victories. He experienced many emotional and spiritual struggles, as we see so often in the psalms he penned. God helped him climb upward over his walls, just like He can help us overcome our struggles. David’s close, upward-moving relationship with God still inspires us today.
How do we, with God’s help, move up our walls? From Matthew 7:7-8, here are three ways you can climb:
- Keep asking. “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for.” (Matthew 7:7a, NLT) When you feel like you’re at a dead end, reach out to God in prayer. Pray without ceasing, (1 Thessalonians 5:17) asking God to show you how to move upward in His strength.
- Keep seeking. “Keep on seeking, and you will find.” (Matthew 7:7b, NLT) Learn all you can about your problem and ask God to reveal a solution. The Holy Spirit can use a Bible study, Christian book, devotion, sermon, podcast or song as a key to breakthrough.
- Keep knocking. “Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7c, NLT) Our plans succeed with good counsel from others. (Proverbs 20:18) Don’t hesitate to knock on the door of a trusted Christian friend, pastor or counselor when you need help.
“For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:8, NLT)
You and I may never climb literal walls or be as sure-footed as real lizards. But with God’s help, we can move up each one of our hidden “walls” in His mighty strength.
Father God, thank You for promising to help me climb every wall I face. In Your strength, I can move upward instead of staying stuck in fear and doubt. Give me insight as I ask, seek and knock for Your help. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
