‘What Do You Want Me To Do For You?’

By Ken Woodley

The walls of Jericho came tumbling down.

But what about our own, and those around us?

Walls of doubt.

Walls of fear.

Of anxiety.

Of pain, rejection, sadness, or longing for love.

Walls of misunderstanding.

Each of us knows what effect they can have on our lives, keeping us from feeling the full measure of God’s love and grace in the world—not the walls—around us.

Everyone’s walls are unique, individual, like a fingerprint.

Not every wall is the same height, or thickness, or strength.

But all of us know the way walls feel in our lives.

There is, however, something else that we know, too.

Jesus is in the walled darkness of our anxieties and pain with us.

Jesus is standing with us in the midst of everything we are facing.

In a quiet voice deep within our souls, Jesus is asking you and me, today, right now, “What do you want me to do for you?”

That question is so very full of love because we know that Jesus will take our answer into his heart and respond to us with unconditional love and compassion. Respond in ways that are sometimes not so obvious at first but become prayerfully and powerfully revealed in God’s time.

And when our walls come tumbling down that isn’t the end of the story. There is more to come because we can all become like Joshua in this world, sounding the refrain of God’s love and grace voiced through us, shining from us into a world where wounded people sit in dark silence waiting, surrounded by their own walls.

Maybe we don’t go shouting or blasting the trumpet but there are so many ways to sound that refrain in words and deeds that quietly offer love, peace, understanding.

There is no wall that anyone can build around us, or that we can build around ourselves, strong enough to keep out Christ’s simple question to each of one of us:

What do you want me to do for you?

Those nine words add up to infinity because there are no limits on the answer that Jesus will provide.

If you want to catch one single leaf rushing down from the sky in a windstorm, it can be done.

And from that leaf a forest might grow.

And in that forest might be shade and peace for all.

Sweet shade and peace that no season can change, because there are no seasons, when it comes to God’s love.

The harvest of amazing grace waits constantly for our hearts to see that the walls can come tumbling down and free us to go wherever Christ leads us.

The bricks and mortar are crumbling even now.

By Ken Woodley
The walls of Jericho came tumbling down.
But what about our own, and those around us?
Walls of doubt.
Walls of fear.
Of anxiety.
Of pain, rejection, sadness, or longing for love.
Walls of misunderstanding.
Each of us knows what effect they can have on our lives, keeping us from feeling the full measure of God’s love and grace in the world—not the walls—around us.
Everyone’s walls are unique, individual, like a fingerprint.
Not every wall is the same height, or thickness, or strength.
But all of us know the way walls feel in our lives.
There is, however, something else that we know, too.
Jesus is in the walled darkness of our anxieties and pain with us.
Jesus is standing with us in the midst of everything we are facing.
In a quiet voice deep within our souls, Jesus is asking you and me, today, right now, “What do you want me to do for you?”
That question is so very full of love because we know that Jesus will take our answer into his heart and respond to us with unconditional love and compassion. Respond in ways that are sometimes not so obvious at first but become prayerfully and powerfully revealed in God’s time.
And when our walls come tumbling down that isn’t the end of the story. There is more to come because we can all become like Joshua in this world, sounding the refrain of God’s love and grace voiced through us, shining from us into a world where wounded people sit in dark silence waiting, surrounded by their own walls.
Maybe we don’t go shouting or blasting the trumpet but there are so many ways to sound that refrain in words and deeds that quietly offer love, peace, understanding.
There is no wall that anyone can build around us, or that we can build around ourselves, strong enough to keep out Christ’s simple question to each of one of us:
What do you want me to do for you?
Those nine words add up to infinity because there are no limits on the answer that Jesus will provide.
If you want to catch one single leaf rushing down from the sky in a windstorm, it can be done.
And from that leaf a forest might grow.
And in that forest might be shade and peace for all.
Sweet shade and peace that no season can change, because there are no seasons, when it comes to God’s love.
The harvest of amazing grace waits constantly for our hearts to see that the walls can come tumbling down and free us to go wherever Christ leads us.
The bricks and mortar are crumbling even now.