WAYS OVER WALLS

“For by You I can run against a troop; BY MY GOD I CAN LEAP OVER A WALL” – Samuel 22:30

Apart from making ways through walls, God makes WAYS OVER WALLS: “For by You I can run against a troop; BY MY GOD I CAN LEAP OVER A WALL” (2Sam.22:30). A troop in the open field is a conflict where one is surrounded by soldiers; but walls are different. A wall is a restriction in a tight place surrounded by stones or bricks. It symbolises something that restricts, binds one in or binds others out – a barrier to getting in, hindrance to getting out, or obstacle to moving forward. Some walls can be huge, towering and intimidating, casting terrible shadows over lives. Walls can be cold, hard and impersonal. A wall could result in a dead end in life! We all encounter walls that threaten to delay or terminate our destinies.

David sang this song, “on the day when the LORD had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul” (2Sam.22:1). The Believer in Christ can also declare: “By My God I can…run against a troop…leap over a wall…do many things that would not be possible through my own limited human abilities.” Paul declared: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil.4:13). How? God “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Eph.3:20).

David attributed all of his triumphs to the Lord God. Great obstacles can be overcome when God is with us. By His Power, we can overcome circumstances that are beyond our natural abilities and resources. Our Lord Jesus says, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Mt.19:26). With God, our human limitations are overcome! By Him, we can do any and everything that He wills for us to do. We can do astounding things in obedience to His leading. Jesus promised Believers: “He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father” (Jh.14:12).

God “does wonders” (Psa.77:14). Yet, He’ll not do for us what He has empowered us to do. God will enable us to excel and do the extraordinary in the natural realm. He expects us to do what we can do, and when we cannot do anything in a particular situation, we then can rely on Him to do the supernatural and intervene. It’s worthy of note that the experience David testified of was not a removal of a wall, a demolition or destruction of a wall, but the scaling of it! God did not supernaturally demolish the wall, or send an angel to bulldoze it. Rather, God empowered David to scale the wall. This was not faith to remove a mountain; but faith to leap over a wall!

In God’s dealings with His children, He may not instantly remove the obstructing walls, but simply empower us to leap over them. By the Lord’s command, Peter walked on water (Mt.14: 28-31). Jesus did not divide the lake of Galilee in the way He divided the Red Sea for the Israelites. He left Peter in the deep waters, but revealed Himself to him, to enable him overcome in that moment. The Lord often gives the most complete revelations of Himself to us when we’re in the storm or surrounded by walls. We sometimes need to pass through the waters, through the rivers, and walk through the fire (Isa.43: 1-2).

We need not run from life’s walls or shrink in fear from challenges, trials, and perplexities. God often uses them to build us. We must trust Him to do the extraordinary in our ordinary, natural, and mundane circumstances. By our God, we can leap over all walls, mountains, crevices, or valleys! Philip Brooks, the puritan, said: 'Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers, pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be the miracle'!