Text: 2 Sam. 22: 30
“' For by You I can run against a troop; By my God I can leap over a wall.”
Barriers are obstacles that impede movement. They are obstructions that makes it impossible to move forward and thereby making backward movement inevitable. When barriers are in place, forward movement is stopped and people will naturally tend to move backward.
Barriers can be physical, it can be a thing – either living or non-living and it can be a person. For instance the wall of Jericho was a barrier to the Israelites and for as long as the wall was in place they were unable to penetrate Jericho to dislodge the inhabitants of the place and take possession. They have the weapons, they have the warriors to prosecute the war, they have all that it takes to defeat the opposition in combat, but as long as the barrier is in place, there was nothing they could do. Barriers makes people even with readily available means to become handicapped and unable to effectively put their God given talents to use, many people of talents and skills have wasted away in life just because there were barriers before them which they were unable to cross and so they never had the opportunity to showcase their skill, if queen Vashti was not removed as queen, Esther would never have had the opportunity to showcase her beauty, talk less of her becoming queen. In spite of her beauty she may have died a slave if not that the barrier called Vashti was removed. Same for Mordecai, if Haman did not misbehave and was removed, Mordecai may never have the opportunity to rise to the top. Although he had all that it takes to successfully operate at the top, he needed the barrier named Haman to be removed for him to have that opportunity to showcase the grace he carried.
Apart from physical barriers discussed above, barriers can be invisible – unfavourable circumstances can be a barrier. For example, the shunamite woman was barren and her husband was old (2 Kings 4: 14), Gehazi presented the circumstance of her husband being as old as an impediment to her not having children. Forces of darkness can be a barrier, the demon possessed man whose story is recorded in the gospel had what it takes to evangelize and to preach Christ, but barrier of demonic possession did not allow him to explore this grace in his life until the barrier was removed (Luke 8: 39). When anyone decides to walk in a way contrary to God, God can decide to assign His angels to be a barrier to such a man and in some cases, He will personally be a barrier to such people. When Balaam decided to embark on that ungodly journey to Balak in order to curse God’s children, God sent His angel to be barrier to him on his journey (Num. 22: 32), also we saw how Jesus personally became a barrier to Saul as he embarked on that infamous journey to arrest and cage God’s children.
Barrier is a very important weapon that the devil uses to block good thing from coming the way of men, he sometimes uses barriers to divert blessing meant for persons away from them to someone else. He uses barriers also to resist the going forward of persons, thereby causing them to move backward rather than go forward, these are just a few of the evil that the devil is able to carry out through the use of barriers.
Everyone confronts barriers at some point in their life’s journey, no one is left out. Not even our Lord Jesus Christ. In the cause of His earthly ministry, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Jewish leaders at the time raised all manner of barriers against Him, to stop Him from moving forward to fulfil His purpose, but of course He surmounted them all, and because He overcame all barriers that confronted Him, those of us who have put our trust in Him will also overcome as well. The Red Sea was a barrier both to the Children of Israel and the Egyptians. The Israelites however have God on their side while the Egyptians were opposed to God. The outcome tells you who was on the better side. While the Red Sea parted for the Israelites to cross safely, the same Red Sea buried the Egyptians, none of them escaped.
Barriers cannot successfully hinder God’s children from the fulfilment of their destiny. He deals with barriers in various ways. He can melt the barrier away, He can make you jump over them, as David testified in our anchor passage, and David’s testimony also revealed that He can make you confront them by running against them and gaining victory over them. Whichever way, the fact is that God gives victory to His children over barriers.
Whatever barrier confronts you, whether marital, business, career, as long as you are on God’s side, it is not your end, rather it is a necessary stepping stone to your new height. Remain resolute therefore and refuse to be intimidated. Shalom.
PRAYER POINTS
Father, please remove every barrier between me and my destined place in life in Jesus name. Father, please destroy before me every barrier that is denying me access to the opportunity to showcase my skill , my talent and my competence in Jesus name. Father please raise unsurmountable barriers against all unseen and seen forces of darkness that is out to stop my forward movement in life in Jesus name. Father, whether by dividing it into two, whether by melting it away or whether by carrying me over them, by whatever means you of your choice give me victory over every barrier that will confront me especially in the rest of my journey for this year in Jesus name. Father use the barriers along my path presently to launch me to my next level of glory in Jesus name. Amen
This is nice an d nice lead image