I wasn’t familiar with Tel Aviv. The last time I visited Israel, I was only in Tel Aviv for the airport. Now I know what I was missing! I enjoyed staying only a block from the Mediterranean Sea. The breeze was refreshing, as was the people it, along with the sun and sand, attracted.

 

But I learned one of the consequences of trying to enjoy something too much.

 

The people who built along the shoreline wanted to enjoy its benefits so much that they built a row of buildings parallel to it. That makes sense…until you step beyond those buildings and realize they block the refreshing breeze from everything inland. If the buildings had been built perpendicular to the shoreline, the intentional gaps would have welcomed the breeze further into the city for more people to enjoy. As it is, the benefits of the air coming off the Mediterranean Sea is limited.

Sometimes, we enjoy something so much, what we do to savor it ends up diminishing the extent to which we can enjoy it. What we build ends up blocking the very things we built to enjoy. We create our own obstacles.

What has God given you to enjoy?

What effort have you put into being able to enjoy it?

How has your effort created obstacles to the gift God has given you?

Think about it. It might be time for demolition and reconstruction.