Hard pressed on every side... by midgets
Most people know the story of Gulliver's Travels, or at least the bit at the beginning where Gulliver first arrives in the land of the Lilliputians (little people), falls asleep on the shore and wakes to discover that he has been tied to the ground and is unable to move. From the book:
I attempted to rise, but was not able to stir: for as I happened to lie on my back, I found my arms and legs were strongly fastened on each side to the ground; and my hair, which was long and thick, tied down in the same manner.
Later on in the scene, Gulliver starts to break free, but is eventually thwarted when the Lilliputians start firing arrows at him.
So, why am I talking about Gulliver's Travels? Well, a few months ago I'd been reading the book, and had also been feeling down about various things, and had myself been feeling 'bound' by certain bad habits I felt I couldn't escape from.
Now, at the church I attend, at the end of every Sunday service there is a chance to come forward for prayer. I don't often go forward (I often find it quite intimidating) but this time I really felt like I needed to be prayed for. So anyway, I went to the front and someone came up to pray for me. I explained to him how I was feeling, and we prayed for a bit, and then, you'll never guess what he said - well, out of the blue, he started talking about Gulliver! What he said was that although in the story Gulliver was securely tied down, the ropes that tied him were small, and the people who threatened him were 'not six inches high'. That, as followers of Christ, we believe that Almighty God dwells inside us and empowers us to live for Him, so we then have power to overcome any hurdle or obstacle that sets itself up against that goal. The Bible says in Psalm 118 verse 6:
The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
...and again in Romans 8 verse 31:
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
In that case we really are like Gulliver in the land of the Lilliputians, except more so. Later in the story, Gulliver uses his superior size and strength to capture an entire fleet of warships from the enemy king. We are told in 2 Corinthians 10 verse 4 that:
The weapons we fight with ... have divine power to demolish strongholds.
I'll finish with the quote from the title of this post, 2 Corinthians 4 verse 8-9:
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
Posted on 31 December 2013.