Fighting Spiritual Strongholds
By Laura Bailey
Bible Reading
“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
“I think I am stuck,” wincing as the words came out of my mouth, I waited to hear my husband’s response. “I’ll be up there in a minute,” he quickly replied.
As my husband pulled up in his truck, assessing the situation, I could tell by the expression on his face that it wasn’t good. After a few minutes of trying to get the car out of the mud, he said, " You are going to need a tow truck.”
I knew he was trying to control his irritation, but the truth was, I deserved it. I knew I shouldn’t have gone down that road. For the last few months, my road has been under construction. The road was blocked off just a few hundred feet from my driveway, causing us to take a 10-minute detour whenever we wanted to leave the house. Countless times in the past few weeks, I have seen cars drive around the “road closed” barriers, so I thought I could, too.
Except on this particular day, I didn’t consider that it had been raining all morning, making the clay dirt turn into a thick, gooey paste. To prevent washout, the construction team placed a large pile of gravel at the end of the path, making it impossible to get through. And the thing is, as I slowly inched my way around the barriers, I knew this wasn’t a good idea. Still, ignoring the quiet voice in my thoughts that encouraged me to turn back, I trudged ahead.
At first, it wasn’t that bad, my tires quickly making their way through the mud, but when I saw the gravel barrier, I knew I was in trouble. That wasn’t the first time I’d taken that path; I’d cut through the closed-off road numerous times. Time after time, I sailed smoothly through the construction zone, avoiding the long detour; I knew it wasn’t the best decision, yet I still did it.
Sitting there waiting for my husband, berating myself for my poor choices, I thought about a sermon I’d once heard about sin. The preacher said, “We dabble in sin; Satan dominates.” We often convince ourselves that our sin isn’t that bad, especially compared to others.
If they can do it, why can’t we?
We didn’t get caught last time, so it must be okay.
We try to rationalize our rebellion against God, knowing in our hearts that what we are doing is wrong.
And that’s the thing about sin; typically, our little rebellion becomes more significant. The white lie morphs into a whopper. The occasional overspending leads to a snowball of debt. The innocent flirtation leads to an emotional affair. We have an enemy whose sole mission is to” kill, steal and destroy” (John 10:10). He wants nothing more than to believe that we can control our sin, but instead, it often controls us.
In our key verse, Paul reminds the Corinthians that they are fighting a spiritual battle. But they don’t fight with the flesh; they have divine power to demolish strongholds. A stronghold is a barrier; our enemy erects numerous strongholds to destroy biblical truth. As believers, we put on the armor of God, knowing that we don’t fight alone; we have the power of the Holy Spirit.
When we are under attack, stuck in one of Satan’s strongholds, we can break free with the help of Jesus Christ! But, as we see in the following verses, it is vital that we continually guard our minds, bathing ourselves in truth to prevent and shut down spiritual strongholds before they overtake us.
Graciously, a sister in Christ and her husband came to my aid that day. They worked for almost an hour and nearly got stuck themselves to free my car. The Lord taught me numerous lessons that day. Sin can quickly overtake us, but when we call on the name of Jesus Christ, we have the power to fight the devil’s schemes. Our Heavenly Father also gives us the gift of the body of believers. We are meant to support, lift, and pull our brothers and sisters out of sin if needed.
The Lord granted me mercy that day; the situation could have been much worse. After a few days, I saw a car go around the barriers; as I quickly drove past, I prayed to the Lord for the lessons learned.
Intersecting Faith & Life:
Thinking about this quotation, “We dabble in sin; satan dominates,” is there an area in your life where your sin started small but has begun to take over completely? Ask the Lord for forgiveness and the power to fight this attack. Take it further; reach out to your local church or godly friend to help you overcome this spiritual stronghold.
Further Reading:
Overcoming Strongholds
1 Corinthians 10:13
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Urban Guest
She lives in Upstate South Carolina with her husband and three young girls, where she serves as director of women's ministries at her church. Her passion is teaching the Bible to women, equipping them to live with an eternal perspective. Invite Laura to speak at your next event or learn more: www.LauraRBailey.com
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