Strongholds- looking from the bottom up

Stronghold: World English Dictionary: 

1. A defensible place; fortress

2. A major center or area of predominance.

A stronghold is meant to be impenetrable. The walls tall, smooth, unclimbable. The thickness of sheer stone unbreakable. Those that hide within are safe, untouchable. 

So when I heard someone say that they've had a stronghold in their life since childhood, I thought, it must be a mighty one to have held for so long. And if it 's that strong, that it had held firm for nearly a lifetime, what could possibly come against it? 

I can hear you now, "With God, all things are possible." or "God is bigger than any stronghold." 

My answer is, yes, this is true. But the person who spoke about the stronghold is a longtime Christian. A strong Christian. A firmly believing Christian. 

I think, no matter who you are, when you are standing at the bottom looking up, it simply seems insurmountable. No matter what or who is standing next to you. 

That's how it looks, anyway. 

Which led me to my next thought... how we look at things. 

As long as she saw this thing as a stronghold, then it would keep it's strong hold on her life. All she could see was the sheer wall surrounding her and no way out or over. Yet, in all this, the enemy kept finding a way in to steal her joy, kill her hope and destroy her will to fight her way out.

This is the enemies best trick. He keeps you looking at the wall, so you can't see that if there's a way in, there has to be a way out. He keeps that one thing prominent in your view so you don't see the One standing next to you, or the others: friends, family, your church body who are surrounding you, ready to fight with you. But your eyes are so locked on that THING. . . . 

What was needed was to change how that THING looked. To the enemy, it was nothing. I thought about the second movie in the Lord of the Rings trilogy when the evil army advanced on Helm's Deep with the intent to smash it to pieces. They nearly succeeded until the rescuer on the white horse arrived with the dawn. 

We have a rescuer. He doesn't see things like we do at all. 

"'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord." Isa. 55:8

How To Get Over The Walls of a Stronghold:

1. Make sure that stronghold isn't a safe-place for you. Sometimes we get comfortable in our pain and shortcomings. Examine your motives. 

2. Change how you view that stronghold. Change what you call it. Stop giving it so much power. It's not a stronghold, it's simply an issue that needs to be dealt with. 

3. Stop giving it more power than it deserves. God is out cleft, or safe place. He covers us with his hands. (Isa. 51). 

4. Be willing to look around at the resources God as placed in our lives. Friends, family, our church body. 

5. Get out your climbing gear and move on. 

Spend time with God and allow him to reveal the truth about this issue. Where did it come from? How can it be surmounted? Be willing to share with others, those who you feel are safe, what's going on with you. It's amazing how many other people have traveled the same road we find ourselves on. 

Strongholds are meant to be safe places. But they can also become prisons. 

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. Isa. 43:19