Strongholds, the Barriers to Spontaneity

[HKHaugan]

When we look out from behind our eyes, from our mind and heart, we share a sense of being alone. No one really understands or knows us and we hardly know ourselves. We grasp for some kind of meaning and avoid as much pain as possible in the process. Typical of our plight is the way we immediately seek to protect our inner selves from intrusion. We are conscious of our aloneness in the midst of others. We have a fear of appearing inadequate so we draw conclusions about others in order to elevate ourselves. We invent concepts and ideas, to feel safe, to avoid judgment. Here are some self-protective expressions:
“I didn’t do it. It was his fault. He made me do it. The ref made a bad call. All women are the same. All men are the same. The Italians are emotional. The Germans are brutal. The English are snobs. The French are rude. Jews all look for a way to cheat you. Scots are cheap. Americans are loud and arrogant. Those people, they’re trailer trash. The devil made me do it. It was my father, my mother, the place I grew up in, I was the unwanted child, the country club crowd, the slummies, they kept picking on me, no one ever gave me a chance” and on and on it goes.
On the borders of every human heart these are some of the sentinels we have appointed to stand guard. Where did all this come from? Genesis 3 describes the dynamics of aloneness after Adam and Eve decided they could live life separate from God on their own terms. Note the resulting spiritual, emotional and physical condition underlined.
8 Then the man and his wife (1)heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day (2)and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" 10 He answered, (3)"I heard you in the garden, and (4)I was afraid because (5)I was naked; so I hid." 11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" 12 The man said, (6)"The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, (7) "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
1. conscious separation from a trusting and perfect God. .
2. hiding---self-deceit
3. self-conscious aloneness= I heard you, I was afraid, I was naked, I hid
4. fear-sin’s first servant
5. spiritual nakedness, loss of God’s Spirit,
6. blame God and the woman-emergence of pride, sin’s second servant
7. devil and his deceitful nature identified

And all of this is what prevents spontaneity. We inherited this condition because Adam and Eve listened to someone other than God for their authority to think and act. This is the condition that leads to building a self-protective set of conclusions apart from God called strongholds. The word that best describes the nature of this condition is sin. Sin is what prevents pure honesty, vulnerable relationships, automatic integrity, inner peace and steady self-confidence. Sin magnifies our need to be right, to escape guilt, avoid judgment, deal with fear, find love and earn acceptance, all apart from God.

Compare this condition to Jesus. He had no need to be right. He was right. He was guiltless. He was loved, He loved and was love in the flesh. He was totally accepted by His Father in a perfect relationship. He never had to ‘find’ Himself. He was Himself. He didn’t have to make up ways of adapting to His environment, other people or philosophies. Being one with the Father and the Holy Spirit He had everything. He was never defensive, neither did He rationalize or justify Himself and never blamed anyone or anything, four dynamics of sin that hound us regularly.

Regardless of where a person is in mind, heart and spirit there are strongholds that are used for self-protection. Self-protection prevents spontaneity. They are how we adjust to the world around us apart from God. From outside of us comes a daily bombardment of ideas, feelings, spirits, attitudes and opinions pressuring us for momentary responses. No new moment is ever the same as the previous moment. Every moment presents a new challenge, a new set of circumstances where, even though they may appear similar or familiar, the blend of time, emotion and attitude is never the same. The outside pressure is always there and the inside pressure to adjust is always there. It is that point of adjustment that demands truth for the mind, trust for the heart and faith for the spirit. Most of the time you have to adjust spontaneously. There is no time to wait and ponder. Through faith in Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit restores that spontaneity which is really what sanctification is all about. We become more like Him. As we allow ourselves to be shaped by His Word the Spirit reacts through us. What He intended for us comes to be our reality and that for eternity. Got a better way?