Scaling Walls

I read Don Quixote as a young boy, so perhaps I was ill-advisedly influenced by his fascination with charging unbeatable windmills.

My fascination with Don Quixote moved me to begin a life of coloring outside the lines and always taking the path less traveled.  If there was a hard way to do something, rest assured, that would be the path I chose.  And if I couldn't get it done, I would simply, out of sheer stubborn determination, stay in the battle and wear it down until it surrendered.

USMC General Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller is the most highly decorated Marine in history. In Korea, he led his Marine's into battle and found they were surrounded 29 to 1.  The story I read stated that General Puller stood up and yelled to his men, "All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time".
The next morning when reinforcements arrived and found the Marine's had stood their ground and fought all night.

A friend of mine once commented, "I am sure there is a harder way for us to get this done, but I have no idea what that might be."

When I was 15 years old, my father decided it was time that we embark on the proud tradition of "teaching the boy how to drive".  On the surface it appeared a harmless right of passage that millions of young boys survived before me.  My reality was somewhat more complicated.

My long-suffering father spent many hours with me in his 1967 Ford pickup driving around town.  Between parallel parking that old beast with no power steering and learning to start a manual transmission on a steep hill, my experience was tedious and painful.

One of dad's favorite comments was, "Son, you are a remarkable driver.  
A lesser driver would've missed one or two of those potholes."
It was his attempt at survival humor as he watched me knocking his tires out of round and the front end out of alignment.

It pleased my father a great deal when I discovered that it was ok not to rub the tires up against every curb I parked next to.  All that time I thought sidewalks were markers to advise on how far off the travelled roadway I needed to park.

Some of us have a natural ability to do everything the hard way.

It reminds me of the 1st Rocky movie where the coach told Rocky that it was ok not to block every punch with his face.

As I got older, I realized how wise my father was and how many walls I could avoid running into if I listened to his advice.

"With your help I can advance against a troop;
with my God I can scale a wall."
2 Samuel 22:30

Our spiritual-takeaway is simply this:
"With God's help,
we can move over unsurpassable walls
that have repeatedly beaten us in the past."

So what is the difference?

The difference is between doing life on my own terms
verses doing life on God's guidance and power.

I believe it comes down to
"WHO YOU OBEY????"

If you obey your own desires,
then God will allow you to walk alone in the dark.

However, if you obey God,
you will find that He will lead you safely
THROUGH the Valley of the Shadow of Death.

"When you go through deep waters,
    I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
    you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
    you will not be burned up;
    the flames will not consume you."
Isaiah 43:2

My question is this:
Are you getting tired of running into brick walls?

Are you ready to give God control?