I was reading in the book of Ezekiel ( Chapter 13 to be exact) this morning. This chapter is dealing with false prophets. Verse 3 says “Woe to foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing.” Following our own spirit has gotten many of us in a heap of trouble. Proverbs 14:12 teaches us that, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” Following our own way can make us believe that we are good; we are on the right track and right path… right up to the point that we realize our way leads to self-destruction or the destruction of others.
So what do we do when we realize our steps are walking ourselves right off the proverbial cliff? Many of us do what verse 10 discusses, “ “‘Because they lead my people astray, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash“. According to Meriam- Webster’s Dictionary, whitewash is a verb that means “to make (something) whiter by painting it with whitewash; to prevent people from learning the truth about (something bad, such as a dishonest, immoral, or illegal act or situation).” How many of us live whitewashed lives surrounded by whitewashed walls? God’s word calls them “flimsy”. This feels like our excuses in front of a holy God, and HE IS HOLY. Our walls, the walls we construct around us are not 10 feet tall and bullet-proof. If you don’t believe me, try to control your life, your loved ones, the world, the church, YOUR KIDS!! Control is an illusion. Verse 11 & 12 go on, “Therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth. When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, “Where is the whitewash you covered it with?”
There are many words if those verses that make me cringe, “it is going to fall”; “rain will come”; ” I will send hailstones”; “when the wall collapses”….If you have lived more than 10 minutes on this earth we inhabit, you know that these things will happen. Our walls will collapse and we will be exposed in all of our brokenness, failures, and shortcomings. Our walls of self-protection cannot stand against life’s storm. Many times when our walls begin to be exposed- our flimsy, cardboard walls, we are so tempted to do what most people do- we whitewash them! Let’s decorate! Change them up, hang a few pictures, buy some new curtains. A fresh coat of paint- that will do the trick! We try to pretty up our flimsy walls with whitewash, but the walls are not structurally sound.
God’s desire for us is to let Him be our fortress. A fortress is not flimsy. That bad boy can withstand some battles. Psalms 144:2 says, “He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.”
I am pretty tired of my constructed walls of protection. I learned from the story of the three little pigs that if the big bad wolf shows up, you need to live with the brick-laying pig. The problem with whitewash is that it washes away and the “flimsy-ness” of me is exposed. Storms are upon us friends and as the whitewash fades into puddles at the bottom of our constructed walls, we need to run and find shelter in the fortress of an all loving, all knowing, perfect and Holy God that is able to protect us from the coming hurricanes. I think I will take the “shelter of the most high” over my cardboard house on a foundation of sand, covered in whitewash paint with some nice artwork on the walls. My God is THE ROCK. He is the master constructor. I am sure there is no need for whitewash in heaven. I think it’s about time to pack up my whitewashing tools….
Courtnay Aycock