The Proverb goes;
“Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls” – Proverbs 25:28
Ignorance is bliss; at least that’s what I’ve heard people say. While that’s great and all in terms of getting a pass for doing stupid, when we willingly leave ourselves open to fraud and lies, we can expect wolves who come looking for lamb chops. There isn’t much we can do when we’re under an aggressor who has knowledge we don’t, about what we’re going through.
Life has a lot of pitfalls we all fall into sometimes. Circumstances come to challenge us at every point of life. Rich. Poor. Man. Woman. Boy. Girl. Look closely, and we can even see animals facing problems.
But humanity is surrounded by great knowledge about almost everything on the planet. We can use the knowledge we’re surrounded with to fight some of the things that come along to oppress us with emotions or trap us in endless cycles.
But that word “like a broken-down city, without walls” serves as a reminder that we do not have to live like we’re defenseless against some of the things that make us feel helpless. Our thoughts and emotions are two things I can immediately think of that can render us helpless or anxious. There are scores of people who are brought to tears by emotions and thoughts about life, or what people think about us.
The opinions of some, our emotions, words, and oppressive actions against us can make us feel like we don’t have a voice. But the way we feel, what we think, doesn’t make us helpless; our actions do. Jesus said, “You can do nothing without me”, in John 15:5 – many of us struggle because of the way we interpret information when we get it.
Aside from you can do nothing without me, in John 15:16, Jesus also says, “I chose you and appointed you to bear fruit, fruit that will last”. And also, “God gave us a Spirit of love and of a sound mind”.
One of the greatest things anyone can do for themselves is to believe the message of the gospel; that is, believe in Jesus Christ. People who believe and come to the knowledge of God know that God did not just tell us to believe and leave us to go through it. God says, “I will be with them in trouble” in Psalms 91:15.
With our minds locked on the word of God, struggles aren’t always prepared for what we do when we pray and give ourselves over to God. Believers know that when we believe God and strive to live according to what He says, God directs our steps. When our minds are on the things that Jesus told us to do, we are like well-guarded cities that cannot be scaled.
That does not mean the city cannot be attacked (us). We go through many spiritual and real-life battles. But in our minds is where we make our stand, by faith, first. As we study the word of God and practice what we learn from the Lord, our actions become more in tune with what God has said. That doesn’t mean we don’t struggle. It means we trust that God really is with us when we are in trouble.
Those of us who believe the gospel put our hopes in the Lord, in what He says he will do and what He says about us. “Nothing will be impossible for the one who believes”, Jesus says. The more we live in faith in Jesus is the more we come to understand that we can go through many things and still be at peace in our hearts.
That is because Jesus said, “My peace, I give you”, before He left and went back to heaven. It is still a valid promise today. When we struggle, even in deep distress, our hearts remain hopeful that God will save us out of our trouble; should he not rescue us, we still have the hope that no matter what happens, we live and die in Jesus – God said so. What God says will always be fulfilled, and He does these things for us.
When our minds focus on better things and the solutions we’re able to find, our minds are guided toward the possibilities and outcomes that we can reach. That gives us leverage in our prayers and actions. We are then like those cities whose walls are high and thick, guarded by the mightiest fighters in all existence.
In this knowledge, our struggles aren’t ever hopeless, because we live our lives in Jesus Christ, and if we die, we die in Jesus Christ and will be resurrected one day soon. We are God’s immortal children because of Jesus’ life and death, and resurrection. We struggle different; God gives us a different mind when we believe in Jesus.
Whether you believe God or not yet, don’t live like a city without walls. God has left us a great knowledge that can help us rule over our minds, our emotions, and help us to take control of our bodies and submit to the commandments of Jesus. The word of God frees us from a lot of fear and doubt in THIS life, as we prepare for the kingdom of heaven to physically come.
What I say is; believe and live like it. We can do anything and overcome anything when we believe in Jesus, because He says so. If you can understand that, you can understand the information God left for us to live a life limited only by love.
