It’s always been a pet peeve of mine when someone stonewalls me, ghosts me, or gives me the silent treatment, but now that I am walking more closely with the Lord, he’s giving me more peace even in those situations which are outside of my control.
Something profound came into my spirit as I was thinking about my 23 year old son who has been stonewalling me for months, and before that, how his dad would often do the same thing while we were married for 30 years. It makes me sad, but I continue to pray for God to reach him and soften his heart. I no longer let it impact my walk with the Lord or the growth of my faith.
What Holy Spirit showed me this morning is that a stone wall is stationary, inanimate, not moving, and not growing. We are not called by God to be like a wall. The Bible refers to us, instead, as a tree which is to grow fruit.
Jesus followers are like a tree…
A tree can be moved by God and replanted in another place, often to a place with healthier soil. A tree with roots in the Living Water is continually growing and producing fruit that blesses others. A tree is unimpacted by a wall because our roots are continually reaching deep for water and nutrients to survive and our branches are reaching higher and broader for sunshine and rain. God created humans to grow and flourish as the trees do, while Satan wants to turn us to stone.
Satan wants to tempt us to harden our hearts and stonewall another that we have taken offense with. He lies to us and makes us think that being a wall will “show them,” “punish them,” or “protect us” from something.
What Satan doesn’t want us to realize is that a tree rooted in Christ is unimpacted by a stone wall. Our branches reach over the top and our roots spread underneath. A tree can grow around and quickly dwarf a stone wall, revealing that there is more power in life than in death.
So the next time someone stonewalls you, ghosts you, or gives you the silent treatment, view it as an opportunity to grow toward the One responsible for all life… Jesus Christ. Keep growing, and don’t focus on the wall. It won’t be long and the wall will see the glory of God through your bountiful fruit!
(Originally posted on October 9, 2024 on Stephanie K Ford’s Facebook page)