“Walking around these walls I thought by now they’d fall…” Nearly everyone can relate to these familiar lyrics from the worship song, Do It Again.

 

Who among us has never struggled inwardly? Or come up against some insurmountable difficulty? Within relationships, or any multitude of other lifestyle experiences, we thought we’d have overcome by now. But day after day, month after month, year after year. We wait.

Too often while we wait, we throw out what is best and keep what is worst—impatience, doubt, discouragement. The writer of Hebrews knew something about this and reminds us of what we really need.

“So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that He has promised” (Hebrews 10:35-36 NLT).

Endurance

The very word rubs raw. Our carnal (fleshly) nature tries to distance and reject endurance altogether. It is irritating! We resist because endurance isn’t easy. We know that there will be a cost. Maybe that is the point?

Webster’s dictionary defines endurance as: the act or power of bearing pain, hardship, or adversity. The ability to continue or last, especially despite fatigue, stress. To endure is to hold out, sustain without impairment or yielding. To bear patiently or without resistance.

Hmm…continue. Bear patiently. Without resistance. No doubt, if it was within our power to knock down these walls, we would have already. But it seems not. So, what can we do?

Now is the time to remind ourselves that God can change anything at any moment! We must remember this—not just with theological understanding, but with heart understanding. The heart only responds to what it truly believes.

Know this. God often does the work of change within us as we face with patient endurance the walls that haven’t fallen yet. That shift in perception helps us continue to bear patiently and stop resisting the refining work that God is doing for us!

Walls

What are these walls for you?

Perhaps it’s been a long time walking around them. I want to encourage you to ask the Lord today for fresh eyes and a willing heart—a sincerity to see what He knows about these walls. Ask the Lord to show you what part you may have had in building them. Ask Him to show you what’s within your power to make a change? Ask if now is the time to take action?

Look again to God’s Word for insight in what you can actually do to help bring down the wall! Can it be that the Lord is just waiting for you to ask again…one more time?

If, after your continued prayers, the Lord’s word is you must continue to endure, don’t be disappointed or resent the answer.

And definitely don’t lose hope! Because “continue” means that He is still working. He will always be near, ministering to your hurting heart even as you endure.

Our Lord has a multifaceted plan and He works—not simply to do something to us, but something for us! Endurance has its own work and purpose.

“Endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love” (Romans 5:4-5 NLT).

Trust

Our Lord is at work, even when you don’t see the work that you want to see. Will you trust Him still?

Surely even now, He is making these walls ready; quietly chipping away, weakening their foundation. Ready for just one word by Himself to reduce them to rubble!

Most assuredly, He is making you ready. So, stop fretting and trying to figure it out. Just stop.

  • Rest instead in His love. “The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of Your hands” (Psalm 138:8 ESV).
  • Surrender your ideas and the outcomes you want. “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You” (Psalm 39:7 ESV).
  • Embrace the process. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV).
  • Fill your mind with the hope of God’s promises from the Bible. “They delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night” (Psalm 1:2 NLT).      “For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT).

Back to the lyrics of Do It Again. Will you make this song a prayer of your own?

 

Your promise still stands, great is your faithfulness.

I’m still in your hands.

This is my confidence; you’ve never failed me yet …

You made a way where there was no way, and I believe I’ll see you do it again!

 

Yes, Lord, do it again!