On April 24th, 2024, Diggs pooped in the house. It's easy to remember the date because the entire house smelled like a field full of manure - you know the smell.
And to make matters worse, no, Diggs never tells us. His face never does either - not even a low growl. If I pooped in the house and outside of the toilet bowl, I would at least growl at it.
Look no further than this before and after of Diggs as evidence.
Before me asking Diggs if he took a doo doo on the ground of the living room:
After me asking if he took a doo on the ground of the living room:
In the second photo, he believes his adorable looks will help us turn a blind eye to the atrocious crime he committed on this day.
Paul addressed the church of Corinth in one of his letters and said, "We do not wage war as the world does. 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 Corinthians 10:3-5).
Sometimes, those strongholds Paul is referred to look a lot like Diggs and his poop incident before and after I ask him if he did the dirty deed or not - they are disguised as a struggle sent from God himself. Look no further than Job; one of the book's major themes is to not listen to your friends who misidentify a struggle as God's punishment. Jobs friends tried to convince him that his pain and suffering is a result of God's wrath over Job's misdeeds, when it was clear in the beginning of this story that Job was upright and as blameless as they come. Satan's design is to use strongholds as a means to distance from God, but plenty of strongholds are not designed to look like strongholds until you're waist-deep in it. From a distance, Diggs looks innocent until proven guilty. With Diggs' never-ending cuteness combined with his "I will remain silent until I get a lawyer" attitude, Amanda is much closer to believing I pooped on the living room rug than he did.
It can be easy to believe lies about God when a rumor, difficulty, or impossible season seems to support that lie about Him, especially when the situation is so personal. Unfortunately, the moment we consider the world's "God" over the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the Bible, we are like a house built on sand, easily overtaken by the waves of the world.
So, how do we "demolish strongholds" that do a good job disguising themselves the way Diggs disguises his misdeed?
1. We go through strict training of the mind - one of the foundations of our belief in God.
2. We use the power of self-discipline and discernment to act on those Biblical truths
Strict Training of the Mind:
Paul makes it clear that we are all competing in a race, and to win the race for the "crown that lasts forever," (1 Corinthians 9:25) we must go through strict training. How? First, we need to admit that our mind is just as important than any other muscle: we need to workout the mind to be filled with thoughts that bring us near to Jesus. We can't go to the gym and only workout the muscles that are visible to the world around us. The mind also needs proper exercise.
Typically, when we think of the mind, we think of the thoughts that go in and out of it like a revolving door. While this is true, it also dictates much more than the thoughts that live inside of it.
Jennie Allen, from her award-winning book Get Out of Your Head, says this about the mind:
"Our emotions lead us to thoughts, those thoughts dictate our decisions, and our decisions determine our behaviors, and then our behaviors shape our relationships which lead back to our healthy or unhealthy thoughts."
In other words, appropriate attention and focus on giving the mind its proper nutrients will strengthen more than just your thoughts, but our emotions, decisions, behaviors, and our relationships too. Admitting that our mind needs to consistently be plugged into sources that strengthen it will help us focus on finding ways to feed it with intentionality and purpose.
Secondly, When we stray from those thoughts, it is important to partake in spiritual practices that reground us in the mind of Christ (fasting, prayer, Sabbath, surrounding yourself with Christian community, etc.). As a vital part of God's creation, it only makes sense to go back to the source to get filled up when our tank is empty and we're prone to the distractions Satan places in our path. Any one of the spiritual formation practices mentioned above will help us build the discernment we need to go to war against strongholds that oppose the will of God.
From Self-Discipline & Discernment to Action:
In one of Paul's letters to Timothy, he encourages him of this one simple truth: The Spirit of God within us gives us power, love, and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7). When we lean into this verse, we become mentally aware of the strongholds that Satan uses to remove us from the race. In one of his letters to a church in Galatia, Paul tells the people they were running a good race, "Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth" (Galatians 5:7)? Self-discipline and proper discernment will prevent you from drifting towards unbiblical truths that distance you from God. When your mind is distanced from God, so will your behavior, emotions, and actions.
On the other hand, if you submit your thoughts to Christ and the Truth found in the Word, and remain consistent in keeping your mind focused on Him, he will continue to draw near to you as you draw near to Him (see James 4:7-8). Where self-discipline and discernment come in is when you're steadfast in your dedication to make Christ a priority in your mind, he will give you the discernment you need to make the right decisions when you are faced with a stronghold.
When we embrace the journey of working out our mind to be in alignment with Christ, taking thoughts captive and making them obedient to Him, we can spot the source of the poop that tries to distance us from our Creator because as we give our minds over to Him, He gives us the strength, discipline, and discernment to take action against those strongholds.
Next time Satan uses a poopy situation to distance you from the truth, you'll know the source of the stink and how to clean it up because you have strategies that put you on the right side of the of the Spiritual Battle: right next to Christ as he fights with you.