Plug The Wall
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:13)
In her novel entitled “The Silver Skates,” American author Mary Dodge tells a tale of the bravery and commitment of a young Dutch boy in Holland, who was coming home from school one day and noticed a hole spewing water from the wall surrounding his city. This wall protected the parts of the city that were below sea level from being inundated with water from the sea above.
The boy’s initial thought was to go find help, but he did not have time to get it because the water was coming out so fast. And since no one else was available or around, he ended up plugging the hole himself using his thumb until help would arrive. Even though he had other things to do, even though his family would be looking for him, he stayed there with his thumb in the wall all night, despite the cold, despite the loneliness, until the adults of the village found him the next day and made the necessary repairs.
The image of someone who stands in the gap to advert impending danger and to halt a coming crisis is what comes to mind when I think about what God calls us to do as believers.
God calls each and every one of us to stand in the gap whenever, however, and wherever there is a need in the world, in the community, or in our families. Where there is injustice in the world, we are to oppose it. Where there is pain and suffering in our community, we are to confront it. And whatever threatens the spiritual, physical, and mental stability of our families, we must stand against it.
Such a position in the church is called being an intercessor. Intercession entails some act on behalf of another. It could be an act of advocacy, an action of meditation, and most importantly, it can be and is often in scripture an act of prayer. Throughout the Word of God, the Lord calls and challenges those of us who claim to be concerned about the well-being of the world to sacrificially stand against the forces of death and darkness that seek to destroy what God has established. So with that in mind, let’s take a lesson from the boy in “The Silver Skates,” and let’s sacrificially stand in the gap where we need to in order to fulfill our role as followers of Christ.
In her novel entitled “The Silver Skates,” American author Mary Dodge tells a tale of the bravery and commitment of a young Dutch boy in Holland, who was coming home from school one day and noticed a hole spewing water from the wall surrounding his city. This wall protected the parts of the city that were below sea level from being inundated with water from the sea above.
The boy’s initial thought was to go find help, but he did not have time to get it because the water was coming out so fast. And since no one else was available or around, he ended up plugging the hole himself using his thumb until help would arrive. Even though he had other things to do, even though his family would be looking for him, he stayed there with his thumb in the wall all night, despite the cold, despite the loneliness, until the adults of the village found him the next day and made the necessary repairs.
The image of someone who stands in the gap to advert impending danger and to halt a coming crisis is what comes to mind when I think about what God calls us to do as believers.
God calls each and every one of us to stand in the gap whenever, however, and wherever there is a need in the world, in the community, or in our families. Where there is injustice in the world, we are to oppose it. Where there is pain and suffering in our community, we are to confront it. And whatever threatens the spiritual, physical, and mental stability of our families, we must stand against it.
Such a position in the church is called being an intercessor. Intercession entails some act on behalf of another. It could be an act of advocacy, an action of meditation, and most importantly, it can be and is often in scripture an act of prayer. Throughout the Word of God, the Lord calls and challenges those of us who claim to be concerned about the well-being of the world to sacrificially stand against the forces of death and darkness that seek to destroy what God has established. So with that in mind, let’s take a lesson from the boy in “The Silver Skates,” and let’s sacrificially stand in the gap where we need to in order to fulfill our role as followers of Christ.
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