Open The Gap

 Barbed wire fences adorned both sides of the country roads where I grew up.. Almost every farm had livestock which were contained inside of those fences. Access into the pastures by the farmers was often through a gate, but other farms, like ours, a gap provided the entrance into the fields where the cattle grazed. The gap going into our pasture was constructed with three or four strands of barbed wire and a cedar post in the center to balance the gap when it was closed. On one end of the gap was a larger anchor post to which the fence was attached. The stationary side of the gap was also firmly secured to that anchor post. The other end of the gap which opened and closed was connected to another large anchor post when closed. A strong sturdy wire was placed toward the top of that post. It fit over the the smaller end of the post firmly holding the entire gap in place to keep it closed. That crude gap was sturdy enough to keep the cattle where they belonged.

When I was a boy I would go with my daddy to check on the cattle. He would go up to the gap to open it and without even straining a bit, would remove the gap post from the tight wire holding it to the anchor post. As I got older I would ask my daddy if I could open the gap. He would let me try, but I wasn’t strong enough to remove that gap post from the anchor wire. Neither was I tall enough to obtain the leverage I needed, nor were my arms and hands strong enough. The gap was a strong immovable barrier for me. Not only did the gap keep the cows from getting out, it kept me from getting in. Little by little I got taller and stronger and eventually was able to open the gap. I was so excited the first time I opened that stubborn barrier. It was like a rite of passage; the boy became a man, at least in my mind. 

Closed gaps keep us from entering the green pastures of life. We find that we are not strong enough spiritually to remove the barriers that keep us on the wrong side of the blessings that God wants us to have. We never seem to acquire the leverage we need to see over those barriers. Our perspective is limited, and all we can see are the circumstances which we use as excuses preventing us from moving forward into the lush fields of God’s perfect will. We forget that our strength comes from the Lord. We are spiritually weak because we don’t allow God to give us his power and his might which are necessary to opening up the gaps that have been keeping us from entering the green pastures of His love, His joy and His peace.

The Apostle Paul said, “Finally, my brothers and sisters, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.”  Ephesians 6:10