Mysty PfefferTable of Contents
Is the stronghold over my life food, pleasure, and ambition. . . or is it God? I was talking to my friend Dana yesterday, who I call my “spiritual coach”, lol. . .and I was trying to process a lingering discontentment in this current season of life.
Yes, a Christian nurse health coach has these seasons, too! It’s hard to describe the restlessness when I have everything I need. . . a fine home, spouse, loving family, friends, great coworkers, yada yada. The word stronghold came to mind because there is literally a strong hold over my mind sometimes in regard to life satisfaction, dietary patterns, faith, hope, and relationships.
And they all run together!
Do you feel that way at times, too? You and I have this complex mix of desires and needs as they become interwoven into our reality. A stronghold in the Bible is a place where God protects His children. In the New Testament of the Bible sin can become a stronghold.
So, l’d like to biblically unpack this concept more in my fragile little ego and see what God does with it.
Stronghold Scriptures Describing God As an Impenetrable High Tower
I think of God as an impenetrable high tower because the older versions of the Bible, like the King James version, use the word high tower instead of stronghold. I picture that very tall, rock fortress surrounding the people inside for their protection.
The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
Psalm 9:9The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 18:2The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 27:1
The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
Psalm 37:39
Therefore, when the psalmist, king David, says, “You hem me in behind and before”, he is feeling the overwhelming presence of God so strongly that no matter what His season of trouble, he is secure in God’s protection.
In fact, it’s something he repeatedly has to talk to God about because he is always running from danger, facing his own sin, or tackling demonic (spiritual) oppression. The pleasure seeking of women is evident in his numerous wives and concubines. Plus, his ambition is seen throughout the books of Samuel 1 and 2 in his conquering war efforts.
When Nabal refuses David and his men a portion of the harvest feast, he’s so angry and hungry he sets out to destroy the man’s family and take it all by force. Pleasure and ambition can get us into a dangerous mindset. A mindset that is not fully focused on God’s goodness or His provision.
Does that sound familiar in your life? It sure does, mine!
Not in the sense of setting out to destroying others, we have too much consciousness from the Holy Spirit to do that. But we don’t hesitate to destroy ourselves. The self-talk becomes demeaning and hurtful and the behavior towards ourselves soon follows.
We stop being intentional about our eating habits, our sleep, and our exercise and just binge on whatever is the most pleasurable in the moment.
At least the ancient followers of God had only their natural resources to rely on! They didn’t have the gut destroying, hormone disrupting plethora of fake food, air fresheners, or bath bombs to help them escape stress like we do.
You and I have too many artificial resources filling our minds and bellies and it makes the path forward even more narrow. We don’t know where to turn physically. Food deception in artificial ingredients and “natural” flavorings are chemicals the company chooses on any given day to make us more addicted to their products.
If we’re not careful, the stronghold of God slips into a stronghold for things.
Food, fun, and material things become more important, or they just become mindless hand to mouth reactions to our circumstances. That my friend, is the stronghold of sin.
The apostle Paul says:
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
A Health Coach’s Biblical Weapons of Warfare for Strongholds
I like that! Weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. What are our weapons? The weapons of righteousness!
We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise.
The bottom line is we are at war with our mindset and how we view our circumstances every single day. How you and I choose to trust God in those moments is up to us.
We often make the mistake of losing focus on God as our stronghold and depend on our pleasure, or our ambition. He never wants us to take that route.
Call to action:
What do you tell yourself when you doubt what is happening? Where is your focus and how can that be changed into a different mindset?
What weapons of warfare for the Christian are you ready to use for your personal stronghold?
I am with you in this! God keeps me grounded in His Word every day! I love Him for it, too! If you need guidance on intentional eating check out this post on Intentional Eating! I’m here for you as a health coach too, here are my services!
