Reality of Escapes & Counterfeits

Escapes, counterfeits, band-aids. All those are things that people use to escape from their problems that they face in life. But in reality, they lead to nowhere except destruction. So, what are counterfeits and escapes? They are anything that numbs a problem or puts them aside. These are anything that gives you a “high” or distracts your attention away from them. They are things that distract you from going to the frontline with the full armor of God and Jesus right beside you with your victory. They come in many shapes and sizes too. Alcohol abuse, drugs, some addictions, pornography, distractions, or anything that numbs the mind. The ignorance of a problem is the problem’s victory. “Because, indeed, because they have seduced My people, saying ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace – and one builds a wall, and they plaster it with untempered mortar – say to those who plaster it with untempered mortar, that it will fall. There will be flooding rain, and you O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall tear it down. Surely, when the wall has fallen, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the mortar with which you plastered it?’” Therefore thus says the Lord God: “I will cause a stormy wind to break forth in My fury; and there shall be a flooding rain in My anger, and great hailstones in fury to consume it. So I will break down the wall you have plastered with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be uncovered; it will fall, and you shall be consumed in the midst of it. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” – Ezekiel 13:10-14.
There is a lot to unpack in these verses. The context behind them is the Lord is speaking to the foolish prophets and warning them of what will come of them if they continue in their foolish way. However that being said, there is an important principle within these verses that heavily applies to us today. The main topic being discussed here is a wall being plastered with untempered mortar and being broken down. In other translations, the untempered mortar is called whitewash. The Hebrew word for whitewash actually has a secondary definition of foolishness. It is foolish to cover your problems with whitewash. When you whitewash a brick wall or such, it covers it with a white coating to give it a different color. Now here is where this comes into play in our lives. When we have a problem, it is a wall with cracks that need repair. However, when people use escapes and counterfeits such as drunkenness, overdosing on drugs, or anything that makes them high or numb to their problems; all they are doing is simply plastering their broken wall with untempered mortar and whitewashing it. It is like painting over a leak. That won’t fix anything! Whitewashing your problems is a horrible idea because when you whitewash something, you cover it with a white color which symbolizes purity. Yet, underneath that layer is still the same old wall with all its cracks and such. You mask your problems with a fake smile and a fake joy. You make yourself appear okay when you really aren’t. You won’t fix a leak with paint, nor will you repair a wall with untempered mortar. In the later part of the verses above, it says that the wall will be broken down to the ground so that its foundation will be uncovered. If you never take care of your problems and continue to “deal with it”, your cracks and leaks will grow until they burst. Then your wall will be destroyed with all that remains is your foundation. Many times, people fester their problems until they literally break the person. Sometimes people recover but sadly sometimes people don’t and they give up. If you won’t fix your problems and you collapse, you are stripped to your foundation which is the root of your life. You will either let Jesus in to be your foundation and build something new or you won’t.
“The Lord builds up Jerusalem; He gathers together the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” – Psalms 147:2-3.
What is the Lord’s desire on this? To see you be built up rather than collapsed. In these couple verses, it says the Lord builds up Jerusalem. In the same way, the Lord wants to build up His people not break them down. It says that He desires to heal the broken and bind up their wounds. God doesn’t want to simply dress them or cover them with a band-aid. No, He goes to the problem and solves it. Though it may hurt to be stitched up or to have spiritual surgery performed on you so that He can remove the problem; it is the only solution. Numbing a problem won’t stop or pause the effects of it. Rather, numbing the problem with escapes only makes you forget about it which still leaves it affecting your life in a negative manner only now an ignorance to it. Regardless of how much numbing you do to your problem, it will only get worse the longer you let it remain in your life. It is like an infection. An infection only gets worse and the consequences of not taking care of it increase in severity. This is the same way with using escapes on your problems. You won’t solve it and forgetting about it will only numb it so much until it brings consequences and even more problems that cannot be forgotten or put to the side. Removing the problem is like removing a weed. What I mean by that is that like plucking a weed, you have to remove the entirety of it including its root system which remains hidden in the dirt. If you simply cut it at its stem, the roots are still alive deep within and will resprout that weed until they are eventually removed. There is not a one-spray-fixes-all weed/problem killer. You will have to get your hands dirty and dig in your heart to remove those problems permanently. Have you ever wondered why you repent for something, yet you continue to do it again a little bit later? That is because truly repenting and removing a problem requires a deep heart search and change. It requires you to truly dig for that last root and remove it. It all points back to what is in your heart. Using escapes and counterfeits to compromise with your problems is all a state of your heart. Some people will continue to compromise with their problems. Why? Because this heart issue can be bound by fear, an unwillingness to change, a hardness of your heart by living a lifestyle of merely dealing with it, etc. A heart bound by fear is a lack of trust in God because He is the solution to your problems if you will trust Him and do what He guides you to do. An unwillingness to change your heart is an issue only you can resolve. Only you can change your heart and your willingness. God will try to encourage you and help you, but at the end of the day, it is up to you whether you go all in for Him or remain in your old ways. If you are simply dealing with your problems by not solving them but rather numbing them, then over time your heart will harden being used to living with your problems using escapes. When the Israelites saw the giants in their land all they saw was a problem and nothing else. However, there were two spies by the names of Joshua and Caleb who saw through God’s lenses and saw the solution. They knew the problem would be no more because they knew who would fight for them. The Israelites complained at the sight of the problem and said they would rather be back in Egypt simply compromising. The promise Joshua and Caleb knew was the promise that God said that the land was theirs. Our promise remains true and that God will go with us to overcome our problems if we simply have faith and trust in Him to do so. Because the Israelites had no trust in the Lord, they wandered the wilderness for 40 years. Are you going to wander in your wilderness when problems arise by compromising with them, or will you go out to battle against those giants? Appearances are deceptive. The giants appeared strong while the Israelites appeared weak, yet the giants were cut down because the Lord was with His people. So overall, that land is your freedom from those problems and God will fight those battles for you if you simply take that step of faith and go out to face the giants of your life.