Walls Book Review

THEO 330-D03 Walls “Do you ever have the feeling that you are missing out on something important? ” Ryan starts. “It’s Probably because you are. ” (Loc. 247) Many of us are missing out on all God has for our life. What is keeping us from living the life God intends? Walls– separating us from the greatness God has destined for us. We get stuck plateauing in our spiritual progress, seeming to come to a screeching halt with our growth in the Lord. This is the issue Rush begins to portray in his book, Walls. Rush paints a wonderful picture of how we, as Christians, are to live authentic lives.

He provides much Biblical insight in this book to help us break the walls holding us back. We might overcome these stumbling blocks by learning to trust and chase after our Creator with all we have. Only then, He will begin to unveil His plan and promises. One of the greatest quotes of this book, is Ryan’s definition of a wall. He describes them as, “an unhealthy mind-set that keeps you from living life as God has intended. ” (Loc. 453) These bricks, slowly laid down over time, can consist of negative thoughts, sins, doubts, and bitterness against our God.

There are no quick fixes in breaking these walls. He says that we need decision, self-control, and a plan in order to get through. In order to break the wall, Rush describes, we need to be able to recognize that the wall is there. Throughout the book, Rush does a great job and telling the people what to do. He really lays down plans and ideas that can get you closer to breaking through. He gives us many tools and actions to help us. We are told to make a plan, to have self-control, and make decisions to break the walls. Rush really emphasizes on the different types of walls we might see.

He names almost a dozen different walls and how we are stuck behind them. He always ended with emphasis on our decision is what keeps us locked up behind them. “Everybody is stuck, but nobody has to be,” he names the chapter. One of the only issues, that I had found, was we were not given specific instruction about how to use these tools. He tells us we need to plan, but unfortunately, we do not se how to formulate such a plan. He tells us to use a hammer, but we do not know the specifics to using it. He gives us the keys to use the wrecking ball, but we receive no instruction to operate the crane.

Without knowing how to operate the equipment, we are very unlikely to excavate these barriers–especially if you are the type-a kind of person. We need detailed instruction on how we are to begin the process, continue the process, and end the process of demolition. The positive aspect of this, would be that each reader has to learn from experience on how to succeed. We typically cannot cross these barriers in such short time. Applying this book to my life has been a great experience. I have been struggling much with different walls in my life. Pride has definitely been one of the most prevalent in my observation.

I see that over time, I have built a wall brick by brick. Creating these barriers do not usually happen overnight, but they seem to be a progressive construction– they take quite a bit of time. I just remember, in my own life, that after a year of keeping my guard down, I looked up and saw a giant wall that I never realized was there. If we aren’t careful, then we will slowly build a wall that can keep us enclosed for way too long and seem near impossible to break through. What we need to realize, is that we have to see that the wall is there and that you built it. This was one of the hardest steps for me.

We have to decide to tear down the wall. This is a ton of work! Unfortunately, if you begin to procrastinate the demolition, there is a good chance that the wall will continue to grow. We can’t just start hitting the wall with a hammer; we have to plan the demolition. If we just swing aimlessly, there is a slim chance that we will knock it down. We have to know where to hit, what to use, and how to prevent it from building back. Throughout this book, I have learned much about demolition that I have used in my own life. I am so glad that I was blessed to read this book; it was a great help!