The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. (2 Corinthians 10:4 NIV)
When I learned that the ladies at church had planned a beach trip, I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t invited. Then I recalled the whispered conversations I had overheard. Don’t they know I love the beach? Since I’m blind, I can only go when hubby takes a week off.
Maybe that was the problem; I’m a burden. Thoughts of rejection bombarded me throughout the day.
I called a friend to rehash the incident. She couldn’t believe it either. What rude behavior for Christians!
I had to walk through many of these incidents over the years before I realized that rejection held me captive. Sometimes, it released me for good behavior, but a few days would pass, maybe even a few weeks, and then my captor confined me once again.
The Bible calls this a stronghold. The world calls it an addiction. Sometimes, we try to treat the stronghold ourselves, either by ignoring it or masking it with entertainment, drugs, alcohol, travel, shopping, or sex.
I didn’t fight the need for people’s acceptance daily, but when rejection resurfaced, it controlled me. Someone can face the same rejection, but they don’t let it rule their world. That’s a healthy response to a negative emotion. We need to take our strongholds to God when they have taken over our lives.
Healthy wounds heal. They leave a scar. A fresh wound can occur at the same spot as the scar, but scars don’t typically reopen. An unhealed wound can fester and continue being a problem. That’s our strongholds; unhealthy wounds full of infection.
What can we do about emotional strongholds? This world offers us nothing. We can only fight a stronghold with spiritual weapons, because this is spiritual warfare. As our focal verse states, God’s spiritual weapons are mighty for pulling down strongholds.
Do you struggle with the feelings of rejection? Does insecurity accompany it? The rejection I felt created insecurities, because I believed the lie that something was wrong with me.
Ask God to reveal the strongholds in your life. Perhaps you struggle with fear or worry instead of rejection and insecurity. Perhaps you have turned to food or shopping to heal the pain.
When we ask God to break down our strongholds, we heal. We will have a scar, but that scar will remind us that we have victory, and that stronghold doesn’t imprison us any longer.
Lord God, please reveal every stronghold to me, the emotional bondage and other possible strongholds. I don’t want to cover them up. I ask You, Lord, to pull them down. Demolish them as You demolished the walls of Jericho. Replace them with healthy thoughts and emotions. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
DIG DEEPER
HIKING THE TRAIL
Once God reveals your unhealthy emotions, you still have a lot of work to do. This is just the beginning of your healing, but congratulations, you have started the journey.
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Originally posted on August 8, 2022 @ 3:00 am
Great message!!!! My wounds from rejection and insecurities are wide open, bleeding and very infected still. Many of my other wounds have scarred over but not the one about rejection, feeling unimportant. These fester when not only when I am not invited but also when i am ignored or flat out forgotten. God and I have work to do still in this area.
Praying God will deliver you from this pain. Praying my book will help.
Looking forward to your book!
Thank you.