FINALLY,,, posting my Birthday word from January 2011.
What do my word, UBL, Long-term marriages, and Priests have in common??
All deal with "load bearing walls"!!!
God knows the strategy of our enemy, and He will direct our path!
Samson was placed between "load bearing walls"!! and God's glory
was revealed... is it any surprise that the enemy would try the same tactic?
First a generic definition... and an apology for a more lengthy than normal posting... feel free to scroll to the next posting should the LORD not direct your reading this one.
A load-bearing wall (or bearing wall) is a wall that bears a load resting upon it by conducting its weight to a foundation structure. The materials most often used to construct load-bearing walls in large buildings are concrete, block, or brick.
By contrast, a curtain wall provides no significant structural support beyond what is necessary to bear its own materials or conduct such loads to a load-bearing wall.
History
The development of the flying buttress in Gothic architecture allowed structures to maintain an open interior space, transferring more weight to the buttresses instead of to central bearing walls. Notre Dame Cathedral, for example, has a load-bearing wall structure with flying buttresses.
The birth of the skyscraper era, the concurrent rise of steel as a more suitable framing system first designed by William Le Baron Jenney, and the limitations of load-bearing construction in large buildings led to a decline in the use of load-bearing walls in large-scale, commercial structures.
Application
Depending on the type of building and the number of stories, load-bearing walls are gauged to the appropriate thickness to carry the weight above them. Without doing so, it is possible that an outer wall could become unstable if the load exceeds the strength of the material used, potentially leading to the collapse of the structure.
OK... so there's the book definition... here's what I hear the LORD saying to my heart.. begun early this year, and being confirmed over and over.
"you who are at this season of your life (over 50 and in marriages that have been tested and proven over 30 years)... you are to be:
SOLACE
SAFE PLACES and
PILLARS
in the places I have put you.
Know your identity as I, the LORD, have told you, and make sure you are fluid in your plans yet standing firm in your position according to the ONE WHO places you.
Understand that it will be the enemy's strategy to take out the "load bearing walls" so that the buildings standing on it's shoulders will also crumble. (his plan would take out households, congregations, families should he be able to shake and remove the pillars).
Understand that our enemy prowls looking for the opportune time or vulnerability unique to each of us so that he can move in and weaken the wall/pillar. Be on guard, more than you is at stake. But be assured... GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN US than he that is of the world!! "
The above picture is archeology from the temple where Samson stood... it was a true story of a hero who knew he was called, who left his calling, and yet returned to the ONE WHO made him... and became all he was meant to be.... a HERO in our LORD's hands... an example to those of us who come after.
Be blessed my friends as we all walk toward the LIGHT and the place to which we are called...
I know that I have not made the connection to the first question of this post... I will assume that there is no need because to me, it is pretty clear:)
