freedom – Audrey Wells

We all experience pain in life– some of it deep and long-lasting. The amazing part is that God created us with built-in systems to protect ourselves from pain. Think about our automatic physical responses (fight, flight, freeze). Studies show that our brains are creating neuro-pathways from infancy– reading out environment and creating behavioral patterns to help protect ourselves emotionally. We are built for a safe place. God, our creator, built us for safety! What does this tell us about Him? He cares for our protection. He cares about our hearts. Our emotions. Our wellbeing.

But in our lives, we experience pain, suffering, betrayal, trauma, sin… And we begin to build up strongholds as a protection around ourselves. Out of our pain and suffering, we create seemingly “safe places” to protect us against future attack. We begin to form a BELIEF SYSTEM out of our hurtful experiences.

But if we never submit these belief systems to the Word of God, with the voice of God that speaks His truth… these strongholds, these safe places, actually become a PRISON. When we are no longer allowing our lives to be transformed by God’s truth and God’s voice, we are TRAPPED BY our own painful experiences.

Stronghold Definition: A place that has been fortified so as to protect it against attack. A place where a particular cause or belief is strongly defended or upheld

HOW ARE STRONGHOLDS FORMED?

It begins with a negative event…

1.) NEGATIVE EVENT

Hurts & Trauma
“What I did not experience”
Generational Inheritance
Genetic Inheritance (epigenetics)
Spiritual Inheritance (3rd & 4th gen)
Family Culture

Out of that negative event, we believe a lie. Why is it a lie? Because it does not line up with God’s truth. We create a “false truth” in our hearts– a “lens” to see the world by– in order to protect ourselves from any future hurt.

2. LIE

“That’s the way it is in my life!”
Lies I believe about God
Lies I believe about others
Lies I believe about myself
Lies I choose & lies I inherit and embrace
Lies are the meaning assigned to the event

And now. It’s time for us to build up a stronghold– a defense– to keep us from ever experiencing that pain again. Because WHO wants to experience that kind of pain again? “HOW can I protect myself from that?“

3. DEFENSE

Denial
Emotional Insulation
Repression
Anger
Projection/Externalization
Blame
Preemptive Rejection
Minimization
Withholding Trust
Busyness
Passive Aggression
Acting Out
Fantasy
Intellectualization
Rationalization

The problem is, when we believe LIES about ourselves, about God, about others… and then we build up a DEFENSE to protect us from that pain in the future… We then REACT out of the stronghold, that defense… And people then REACT back to us…

4. OTHERS REACT

“I’ve been rejected by my best friend before… I can’t trust anyone. I’m going to withhold trust and vulnerability in the future to protect myself.” But happens when those future friendships sense that you’re withholding trust from them? That you’re distant? What happens when they feel like they can’t get close to you? They don’t draw close to you either… they pull away… And what happens when we receive their reaction? “See I KNEW I couldn’t trust anyone! Everyone always leaves me in the end.”

And this is why the Anatomy of a Stronghold is a FULL CIRCLE. This is why sometimes we feel chained to our pain, and we can’t see a way out. This is how all of us fall to unhealthy patterns and feel imprisoned by our trauma. Remember what I said earlier– these strongholds, these supposedly “safe places”, actually become a prison. But there is GOOD NEWS.

We have a loving God who views our pain and CARES FOR OUR HEARTS. He doesn’t just care for our transformation, He IS our transformation. He doesn’t just speak ‘nice thoughts’, but LIFE and TRUTH into our lives. There is a way out of that cycle of pain and lies, and that way out is Jesus. And He doesn’t just provide a safe place, He IS THE SAFE PLACE.

Psalm 18:2
The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

And it is out of that presence-driven relationship with Him that we find freedom and truth: NOT what the world tells us, our experience tells us, or what our pain tells us.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NKJV)
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”

There are arguments in our minds that go AGAINST the knowledge of God. And Jesus has provided freedom from those lies. The Message says, “We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.”

Throughout our lives, we have accepted, consciously or unconsciously, knowledge that is not from God. There are lies written all over our hearts that are not aligned with the truth of Jesus. And we are CALLED to rip down those lies, those strongholds, and receive the true knowledge of God. We are called to agree with God’s voice, His Word. How do we do this?

Verse #5 says: We take every thought captive, and we bend it to obey Jesus.