Pittsburgh District Church of the Nazarene

Light Thought 2                                                                                                      February 7, 2012

Zechariah 2 (specifically verses 4-5)

When I was doing my devotions the other day I came across an interesting passage that I would like to ponder with you in this edition of Light Thoughts.  When I first read it, I was kind of caught off guard until God really began to help me understand what was going on.  Now, when you read the passage, make sure you let the Spirit speak.  Read it through in a couple of different versions before you try to understand it.

In my previous life, I worked in an architectural/engineering firm. One of my tasks was to design a wall that would separate the estate section from the rest of the world. This section would have homes that started at 1 million dollars and go up from there.  The design had to be suited to the design and elegance of the homes it would be protecting.  They liked my design and the wall was built.  From what I understand, it is doing its job.  It keeps out the riffraff and keeps in the wealthy.

I wonder how many times we build walls in our lives to keep out the riffraff.  Whether we mean to or not, when we build walls, we are saying to the people we come into contact with "we do not want to be disturbed."  Sometimes we do it for protection; other times we do it because we are scared.

The angel in our story is calling the man to not build the wall around Jerusalem.  Why?   It is highly possible that when the wall gets built, it will be a symbol to the rest of the world that they do not want to be disturbed.  Jerusalem was the place where the Jews could find God.  They knew that if He was nowhere else, He was in Jerusalem.   By building the walls, they were almost saying that they didn't trust God to protect them.  God is saying, "Trust Me, let Me protect you and watch over you."

Maybe it is time for us to let God protect us and watch over us.  After all, when Jesus was praying in the garden, He prayed to His Father "protect them by the power of your name . . ." (John 17:11b).  If we build walls so that we are not disturbed, how will we ever get the name of Jesus out to the world? God has called us to "go out" and we cannot do that if we hide behind the walls we build.

J Bret Metcalfe, District Shepherd

Following the Light
Abhaya's Story

Western Nepal -- For nine days, Abhaya could not sleep. 

The elderly missionary named John had turned her thoughts and beliefs upside down.

Abhaya was devout in her worship of numerous gods in western Nepal, and her father was a priest in the local religion. Her husband and her parents were also devout worshippers of many gods. And until she met John, Abhaya, who was 26 at the time, had never given any other spiritual path a second thought.

John had stayed in her home as a guest for a week, and during that time he had talked to her about Jesus and asked her to consider following Him. He'd bought her a Bible, but she wasn't interested in reading it. Then he invited her to join him on one of his home visits, and she agreed.

John took her to the home of a man with a mental illness. The man was very sick, but none of his family members were willing to care for him. Abhaya watched as John prayed over the man, who was confined to a bed. Startled, she watched as the sick man gave a giant yawn, then sat up, suddenly full of energy and healthy. John then bathed the man, gave him a haircut, trimmed his nails and brought his physical hygiene up to date.