The people around us...

I have recently gone through a time where I had to have a lot of self control.  Many a time I felt like throwing somebody with a cup of coffee or whatever was in reach at that moment.  Obviously I couldn't and this resulted in stress.  Do you know the definition of stress?

Stress is when the mind overrules the body's desire to choke the life out of somebody who desperately needs it.

There.  Short and sweet.  I though the person deserves to be thrown over the balcony but my mind tells me no.  So I experienced stress.  Real stress, tension and anxiety for the first time in my life.

That aside, God reminded me this morning of a scripture I haven't read or thought about for a long time:

Ezekiel 22:30 (NIV)
“I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.


What does it mean to stand in the gap for somebody?  Have you ever meditated on that scripture?  Read it again slowly from The Message version:

Ezekiel 22:30-31

"I looked for someone to stand up for me against all this, to repair the defenses of the city, to take a stand for me and stand in the gap to protect this land so I wouldn't have to destroy it. I couldn't find anyone. Not one. So I'll empty out my wrath on them, burn them to a crisp with my hot anger, serve them with the consequences of all they've done. Decree of God, the Master."

God was angry at the people and He was hoping that one person, just one, would start interceding for the people so that He won't have to destroy them.


That person in my life is busy destroying his life.  If he dies today, he will not see heaven.  I am not judging him - what he is doing is plain for all to see.  He is going downhill all the time.  This morning when God reminded me of that scripture, I knew I had to stand in the gap for him.  Not because I like him but because God loves him.  


What does it mean to stand in the gap?  Simply to pray.  To pray that God will protect him now, because if he dies he is lost forever.  To pray that God will put Godly people in his life that can draw him into the Kingdom - I can't do that for him, but I can pray for someone else to come.  I can pray that God will keep him awake at night so that Holy Spirit can convict him in the time where he can't sleep and can't understand why.  I have done that before in my life with people who really needed to be still so that God could work in their hearts.  I will do it again now.  I can pray that the car with which he drive in excess of 200km/h can break just for his protection.  I have prayed before that the superbike of another person very dear to me breaks.  God demolished it with a truck - it was just pieces left.


You see, if we are obedient to stand in the gap and start praying, God can start working.  I don't have to talk to him - he won't listen to me anyway.  I don't have to do anything else but pray.  God will answer the prayers because He is faithful and just.


Is there is a person like this in your life?  Stand in the gap for him or her.