Built On Nothing Less

We build pillars of safety around us that we lean upon to support the weight of our needs; needs for safety, comfort, value, love. They are rickety and piecemealed together with odd bits of life and pleasure, and any one of them on their own could not hold the immense weight of our needs. But we build more than one, and together they can support the weight, sort of. Though we have the illusion of safety, they are unstable, always at risk of crashing to the ground, needing regular maintenance because a piece falls off here, a chunk is removed there, and whole pillars regularly fall apart. Instead of experiencing the full life we’ve been given, our attention and focus ends up fixed on these feeble pillars and their never-ending maintenance.

If we embrace Jesus and follow him, he gives us the strength to live without these pillars, the full weight of our burdens lifted and supported by the Wind of the Spirit. Upon our initial conversion we experience a new hope for our future, new strength for today, and even feel lifted into the air by this Wind of the Spirit, able to trust in the support of God over that of the towers. But the towers remain, and before long we find ourselves sinking, inch by inch, back into a place of rest on top of the towers. To be sure, the heavenly Winds remain and sustain us, so that when a piece of a tower falls away, we might not feel the compulsion to fix it for a few extra days. When a tower falls apart completely, we fall onto the Wind of the Spirit instead of plummeting to the ground. But, slowly and steadily, rebuild the towers we must.

For years, decades even, these two realities can coexist, the dependence on the towers and the ever-presence of the Wind, the hyper-fixation on the maintenance of trash while being utterly convinced there is more to this Wind than we are experiencing. All the while, our God is waiting for the day for our eyes to be opened, so we may see that the towers are not actually supporting us and keeping us from plummeting to certain death, but instead are keeping us tethered to the ground when we were always meant to fly.

The destruction of the towers must come, and He won’t do it all for you. With this new understanding of these tethers, you might feel the need to fight and destroy and overcome them. However, contrary to your initial inclinations, don’t put up any fight. Don’t give those towers any more attention than what they’ve already robbed you of, and simply neglect their constant maintenance. Instead, fly away. The towers were unstable and always falling apart anyway, so all you have to do is stretch your wings, exercise your atrophied trust, and fly where the Wind takes you. It will be terrifying. It will be tempting to go back. But if you fly on the wild and ferocious Wind long enough, you’ll find that it has demolished those towers for you, all while you were navigating your new, breathtaking freedom. 

This is trust, and when you forsake all you’ve known and embrace all Jesus has, then, my friend, you will begin to live in the fullness of life that your Love has promised you.