2 Corinthians 10:4,  The weapons we fight with are not weapons of the world.  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

Typically when we read this verse we view strongholds as just sins we commit, but there’s more.  The definition of the word stronghold is:  a place that has been fortified so as to protect it against attack and, a place where a particular cause or belief is strongly defended or upheld.  Now as we can see in David’s life in the books of 1 & 2 Samuel a stronghold was a great thing for him.  It was a place where he was able to find refuge from his enemies, but he didn’t stay there to live the rest of his life.  He would have missed so much!  In his case, those strongholds were used by God to protect him while God was working in him to grow him into the King God had created him to be. So we could compare that to when you are in a wilderness season that He has allowed to help grow you into all He created you to be and His grace and love are so strong even when the storms rage, you feel safe.  We can grow so much in our relationship with Him through hard times and sometimes, if we aren’t careful, we can become fearful of losing that feeling of closeness when He brings us out.  That may sound silly but there’s nothing that can compare with the presence of God.  Don’t worry though, if you allow Him to, just as He did David, He will be right by your side as He takes you to new levels in your walk with Him!  

What Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians is a stronghold in your life that has taken over and has become a sin.  That could be a stronghold of addiction or lack of faith, anger, gossip, or any other sin you can commit that has completely taken over your mind to the degree that you can’t seem to find your way out.  Those are easy strongholds to recognize but believe me satan doesn’t stop there!  More and more I see Christians who have allowed the season of life they have either gone through or are presently going through to become a “stronghold” in their life.  It has become their identity.  They have become so focused on whatever it is, maybe an illness, marriage to a narcissistic abuser, financial struggles, or whatever has been thrown at them and now it is “who they are”.  God allows struggles, storms, and seasons of feeling as though you are going through the fire to grow you into all He created you to be so you can serve Him on a new level, but He has not brought you through that wilderness for you to live there!  

That wilderness is your journey to your Promised Land so don’t allow satan to lull you into thinking that somehow that “stronghold” is your service to God!  What if David had decided that he could best serve God by hiding in the strongholds in the wilderness instead of seeing that thing as something God was using in the moment?  Think about what happened to the Israelites over the age of twenty when God was leading them into the Promised Land and they refused to go in and take the land.  They chose what had become familiar and instead of trusting God and believing that it wasn’t in their own strength they were moving forward, it was in His strength!  God had great things in store for them on the other side! God had shown them His faithfulness and He was working in them to grow their faith and trust in Him but instead, they were focussed on themselves.  God wants to use your story but you must allow Him to lead you out of that “stronghold”/wilderness so you can fully be used by Him!

God created you with a purpose to fulfill and it is He alone who has the right to define you.  God is always moving forward and He wants to bring you out while satan wants you to believe that your stronghold is the answer.  How was God most glorified in bringing Israel out of Egypt and into the Promised Land?  It was when He did things in their lives that only He could do.  It wasn’t in their suffering, their “godliness”, or their sin, it was when God moved and they followed and He did mighty things in and through them!  It is all about Him and when we start to think that our struggles, illnesses, storms, fires, and mountains supersede Him, that is sin!  Is your focus where you are today or are you actively seeking God and expecting with great anticipation that He is working and going before you to bring you out so your “history” can give life to others who are going through something similar?  What hope do you bring to the table, what faith and trust that shows the mighty power, love, and goodness of our God, if you choose that stronghold over your Promised Land of service for Him?  While His grace is on display through our struggles when we allow it to be, His mighty hand is on display as He brings you out to a new level of service for Him!  

May I please encourage you today to continue to follow Him through this wilderness/season but do it with your eyes fixed on Him!  Is God trying to tell you as He did the Israelites through Moses in Deuteronomy 1:6, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain.”?  Are you ready for Him to do that “new thing” in your life?  Even if God is still leading you through the fire and the Promised Land isn’t just across the river, there’s a little more wilderness to travel through, cling to Him, and don’t let that wilderness become all you are known for!  When that next generation who grew up in the wilderness, it was all they knew, came to the Jordan they were ready because God was their focus, not the wilderness, not their past, not themselves, and not the victories that were won in the wilderness.  They were the focus of the nations around them because of the great things God had done, but that would have faded and there would be no Israelite nation as there is today, they would have missed out on so much!  Yes, God is God and He would have fulfilled His plans, but what would that generation have missed… Don’t miss all that God wants to do in and through you on the other side of your Jordan!

So, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13). Choose today to cling to your identity in Him, not in your struggle so He can use you on a whole other level!  Maybe, like me, you are thinking that He can’t bring you out of that wilderness fast enough, you are beyond ready ~ Good!  Trust Him, He is working, ask Him what else you may be able to learn while you are there,  and remember He is always faithful, He will bring it to pass!