Monday Musings ~ Walls and Building

That seems to be the theme around here as we are trying to finish the top of our house! It was just a flat concrete terraza with a half-wall, and when it rained the water just sat there, causing dampness and mildew in the rooms below. So we are completing the walls with wood and adding a graded roof to throw off the water. I can hardly wait until it's done! Right now, it's cold and wet up there on the terraza, but soon it will be a dry, habitable place.

I think you will agree that there's a lot of peace, safety and comfort within walls. Think of the ark that Noah built, wherein his family found shelter and safety from the storm of God's wrath. Can you imagine the security they felt within those walls? They had been carefully built according to God's specifications, a sure ticket to safety. "And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of..." said the Lord, and "Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he." What if Noah had taken some shortcuts when he built the ark? I'm sure the Lord would have spared their lives in spite of it, but they might have been bailing water for several months!

I think of Nehemiah when he saw the sad state of the walls of Jerusalem.

And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me...and viewed the wall...

Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.

(from Nehemiah 2:12,15,17)

What is the state of the spiritual walls of my own family? I know that as a wife and mother, I have the power to build them up and make my home a safe haven.

"Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands." Proverbs 14:1

Is there an area of the wall that's a bit broken down and sadly neglected? Shall I just sit and shake my head, despairing at the state of things? What did Nehemiah say? Come, and let us build up the wall! I will arise today, and build!