Sir Edward Whymper was
determined to be the first one to reach the summit of The Matterhorn with his
party of seven. It was July 14, 1865, and this was his eighth attempt. But 8 was
his lucky number. Everything should go well.
Relying heavily on ropes for security, Sir Edward and
his team made their ascent on that famous Swiss mountain, and their perseverance
paid off. Before the day was over, they stood on the top of the mighty
Matterhorn. He had done it! He had made it to the top!
It wasn't until the descent that disaster struck. One
member of the party slipped off the mountain and tumbled into the valley below.
Because all seven climbers were attached together via a rope, the momentum of
his fall pulled another three members of the party off the mountain, and all
four fell to their death.
Why didn't the accident pull Sir Edward and the other
two climbers over the edge as well?
Simply because the rope broke!
Funny, isn't it. Sir Edward was relying on a solid
rope. However, if it hadn't broken, his "security" would have resulted in his
death!
This reminds me of human belief systems. We grow up
with them, we rely on them, but they aren't always reliable!
Researchers have estimated that about 85% to 90% of
our brain activity occurs in our subconscious mind, which is part of our soul.
Since our subconscious minds shape every facet of who we are, including our
actions, our reactions, our habits, and our personality, it impacts heavily upon
our decisions. Basically, it becomes the center of our belief systems.
As information from our daily lives filters into our
subconscious minds, mental images are created. These mental images are broad
underlying observations of how we assume things around us really are. Whether
true or false, they become our version of reality.
As such mental images are stored in the subconscious,
belief systems, also called "paradigms", are developed. These paradigms simply
refer to a mindset that serves as a filter to all of our actions. We have
paradigms for basically everything in our lives: love, friendships, work... Some
of
such images are associated to strong and negative
emotions. These work to create colossal negative beliefs. For example, if we
have been brutally robbed, this will shape a negative belief, one that could,
potentially, make us anxious around people.
An incident happened to my mother when she was a young
child. She fell down the stairs, and this shook her up so much that ever since,
she has been afraid of heights. This is yet another example of the development
of a negative belief.
The Bible refers to these negative beliefs as
"strongholds": "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On
the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish
arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,
and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Cor 10:4-6
NIV)
The original Greek word for "strongholds" is "ochuroomatoon"
and literally means castles, fortresses, strongholds, things that we hide
behind. When these strongholds develop in our minds, they are ugly, filling our
brains with negativity. And once they are vested in our minds, they are very
hard to remove. If allowed to develop, they will imprison us for life.
Remember what happened in Eden? Our soul took the
upper hand over our spirit and we no longer were depended on God. Since then we
have become susceptible to these negative strongholds of the mind.
Because of their destructive power over us, Satan will
certainly encourage such negative fortresses in the mind, keeping them strong
through deception, one of his favorite weapons!
But then again, we do know that he is full of lies
(See John 8:44) and it doesn't surprise us how he tries to turn everything to
his advantage, as his goal is our very destruction (See John 10:10).
There is hope, however, through the One who can truly
set us free: "Jesus said, 'If you hold to my teaching, you are really my
disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'"
(John 8:31-32 NIV)
Get your gear ready and don't forget the ropes. Let's
climb the Matterhorn. We can make it! Meet me in front of the Petit Hotel in
Zermatt, Switzerland. Yahoo!
Rob Chaffart
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
messages. HTML and plain text versions available.
The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.