People don’t decide their future. They decide their habits and their habits decide their future.
I used to check all the electrical appliances to make sure they were switched off several times before I leave the house or before I go to sleep. That was just one of those habits that kept me locked up behind the stronghold of fears.
Max Lucado puts it this way: Yes, everyone worries some – but you own the national distributorship of anxiety. Perhaps you are judgmental. Sure, everybody can be critical, but you pass more judgments than the Supreme Court.
“What is that one weakness, bad habit, rotten attitude? Where does the devil have a stronghold on you? Ahh, there is the word that fits–stronghold–fortress, citadel, thick walls, tall gates. It’s as if the devil has fenced in one negative attribute, one bad habit, one weakness and constructed a rampart around it. “You ain’t touching this flaw,” he defies to heaven and he places himself squarely between God’s help and your:
–explosive temper
–fragile self-image
–voracious appetite
–distrust for authority
— malicious gossip
“Seasons come and go and that big rat still lives in the basement of your soul and when you’re sitting still, the monster is scratching the walls, keeping you awake. He won’t go away. He lives up to both sides of his compound name: strong enough to grip like a vice and stubborn enough to hold on. He clings like a bear trap; the harder you shake, the more it hurts you.”
The other day, we were talking, no, we were criticizing about things we thought could be improved. We were on a roll when one asked, “Sel bads el uasei, p ‘judge not…’ ngara ngerang?” Kaboom! Mike drop!
I confess I was convicted. It arrogant thinking that we know better.
The Apostle Paul uses the stronghold to describe a mindset or attitude.
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh (for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds), casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ; and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience shall be made full.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-6 ASV)
We do not grit our teeth and redouble our efforts. No, this is the way of the flesh. Our weapons are from God. They have divine power to demolish strongholds. Isn’t that what we want? We long to see our strongholds turned into rubble, once and for all, forever and ever, kaboom!
Maybe it’s time for a different strategy.
Jim Wilder says that maturity is a social process. Have you asked others to help you? Everything inside you says: keep the struggle a secret. Wear a mask, hide the pain. God says just the opposite: “Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed” (James 5:16 MSG). The devil lives in the shadows and secrets. God lives in the land of light and honesty. Bring your problem into the light.
We were created with an amazing brain that can change by changing our thinking. Changing from fear that my house could be caught on fire, to trust GOD for safety. We create new neural pathways in our brain to trust GOD to keep our house and our children safe.
Father, What we know not teach us. What we have not, give us. What we are not make us for your Son’s sake. Amen