Our God Demolishes Strongholds

Do you struggle with strongholds in your life? Are you captive to fear or depression? Held down by feelings of inadequacy or low self-esteem? Stuck in a cycle of harmful habits or ceaseless striving? Your strongholds didn’t happen overnight. They took years to build and got higher and thicker and harder to get through with every stone that was laid. But as impenetrable as they may seem, our God demolishes strongholds.

In Biblical times, strongholds were built around cities to keep enemies out. They were well fortified, built thick and high so they could not be broken through. One such city was Jericho, and it stood in the way of God’s people entering the Promised Land. They had spent an entire generation wandering through the wilderness. When they finally crossed the Jordan River and were closing in on their destination, there stood Jericho.

The city of Jericho had been around for thousands of years, and it was well guarded. In some places, the strongholds were 25 feet high and 20 feet thick. They had taken years to build, and they were not going to fall easily. As far as the people of Jericho were concerned, their strongholds were indestructible, and their city was invincible.

But God!

As the Israelites approached Jericho, Joshua was given a promise from the Lord.

“Look, I have handed Jericho, its king, and its fighting men over to you.” – Joshua 6:2 CSB

God was basically telling Joshua – “It may seem as though the city is unconquerable, but I’ve got this!” And just to make sure the Israelites would not think it was their military strength that conquered the city, God gave them an unconventional method to make it happen. A faith-building method. They were instructed to march around the city once a day for six days. And on the seventh day, march, blow their trumpets and shout. Then the walls would come down.

The story of Joshua, the Israelites, and Jericho is part of the story of God’s redemption of His people. In it, we learn much about who God is and what He can accomplish in the lives of people who surrender to Him.

The same God who miraculously demolished the strongholds of Jericho can demolish the strongholds in our lives. Strongholds that have had years, sometimes generations, to be fortified. Life experiences, like heavy stones, have stacked on top of each other to fortify our defenses. We’ve become convinced they are invincible. No one or nothing will be able to breakthrough. But God!

There are four important principles we can learn from the story of Joshua and Jericho:

The enemy was already defeated.

Victory was a foregone conclusion. God didn’t tell Joshua, “If you do things my way, you might have victory.” He said, “I have handed Jericho over to you.” God saw it as already done! We have that same guarantee in Christ. No matter how fortified our strongholds may be, God will tear them down if we surrender to Him.

They could not have broken through the strongholds on their own.

They did not have a vast army or mighty wall-breaking weapons. What they did have was God and that was all they needed. Chances are you’ve tried and tried to conquer your strongholds in your own strength. You’ve made yourself promises repeatedly but the enemy stands guard ready to reinforce against any attempt you make to breakthrough. As long as you keep trying in your own strength, the walls will remain.

They needed to trust Him, obey Him, and be patient.

It couldn’t have been easy to march around a wall without raising a finger and believe that somehow it would fall. But God had promised, so they marched. As they marched, their faith was being strengthened. God has the power to conquer your strongholds in a moment and He may do that. But sometimes He wants to build your faith in the process. It may seem like you’re just marching, but God is getting you ready to shout. When it’s time to shout, your walls will fall.

Once the walls fell, they needed to completely destroy everything.

It wasn’t a partial conquest. If they had left anything or anyone remaining, they would’ve been conquered from within. When our strongholds start to fall, we need to obliterate them. We can’t allow little remnants to remain and give the devil a foothold.

God has given me victory over many strongholds in my life, but it was a process. I didn’t wake up one day finally “saved enough” to conquer my strongholds. God was working in me all along, building my faith as I marched. I may have made a few extra circles around the walls because I was slow to surrender, but when I finally did, my strongholds began to crumble.

Our God demolishes strongholds! Surrender to Him, have faith and watch them fall.

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. – 2 Corinthians 10:4 ESV