Unshakeable Fortress

Last summer my family traveled to Northern Ireland to visit our friends, the Legges, to tour some of the ancient landmarks of Irish history, and to visit a sister house church in Portadown. On a drive up to the Antrim Coast, we saw the ruins of several ancient castles dotting the countryside. We were making our way to see Carrickfergus Castle, a medieval fortress established in the 12th century that still stands intact on a small peninsula that juts out into the Irish Sea.

We walked up to the castle entrance and saw the enormous metal lattice sliding door - called a portcullis - the kind of entrance you see in medieval castles that can be raised or lowered for protection. Walking through the entrance, we stepped into the inner courtyard, an outdoor area surrounded on all sides by 30 foot high stone walls. We paused to see the reconstructed canons pointed outward through the wall toward the sea. You got the feeling this had been a place that took security seriously.

Then we took a set of outdoor stairs up to get inside the castle. The stairs opened into a narrow hallway that led to a small, inner room that was once the kitchen. Next to the kitchen was a giant room with huge arch-shaped windows cut into the walls, overlooking the sea. Standing at a window looking out, I could see how thick the walls were. I had to look it up on Google to know for sure, but I found out those walls are 9 feet thick, solid stone and mortar. No wonder this castle is still standing. 

The next room we walked into, through an arched entrance, was the banquet hall with a huge wooden table set for a feast. At one end of the table was a throne-like bench where I imagined a host (or king) would sit. The bench was wide enough for my husband and boys to sit, laughing and pretending to be royalty, and I snapped this picture.

This inner dwelling place of the castle, held safely for centuries within protective walls, had been a place of refuge, a place of feasts, of celebrations, of joy and communion. It had also been a place, I imagine, of trials, warfare, and struggle from enemy attack. And yet the walls still stand.

This week while I was reading David Legge’s book, Breaking through Barriers to Blessing, I was reminded of Carrickfergus Castle. Chapter 3 is about the mind being a battleground of the soul, and the enemy’s attempt to tear us down by invading our thoughts. Satan is clever in this tactic, knowing if he can capture the mind of a person, he gets access to thoughts, behaviors, and responses of that person. It made me think of the importance of having a protective spiritual barrier to surround the mind. It made me think of the walls surrounding Carrickfergus Castle.

David writes, “A mental stronghold is a shelter of lies in which the enemy’s power can operate unchallenged.” That’s a sobering thought. I underlined that sentence in the book, and re-wrote it at the top of the page. I continued reading, “One of the first steps on the journey of renewing the mind is repentance (a change of mind), articulated in confession.” I paused and thought of the shelter of lies Satan has whispered to me - lies about where I find value and significance, and how they are forms of attack, trying to undermine the presence of God that dwells in me. Satan wants to break down the the walls of my mind with the warfare technique of lies.

I used to think spiritual warfare wasn’t a real thing. I overlooked it when people said the enemy was on the attack in some way. I thought it was just another way to say life is hard. I think differently now. I believe spiritual warfare is a very real thing. I believe that the enemy is lobbing deceit every chance he gets, to try to tear lives apart. I know it because I am not immune to it. But I also believe God’s fortress-like presence - standing like the ancient walls around Carrickfergus Castle - cannot be overtaken, and that this is a spiritual reality within me as a follower of Christ.

Being inside the banquet hall of the castle with my family that day, pretending to sit like royalty at the head of the table, is an image to me of what Jesus is inviting us to - a feast in his presence, within his unshakeable fortress. The more we spend time there with Jesus, the less power the enemy has to invade our minds. In talking about these things with David Legge, the author of Barriers to Breakthrough, he reminded me of the importance of confessing the sin of non-renewed thinking, or of believing Satan’s lies, both to God and to trusted friends. It is in a community of fellow believers that we heal and grow the most, through honesty and vulnerability.

The mind is a powerful place, and the enemy knows it. He wants to control the entire “castle.” But he can’t. We have the freedom to choose repentance and renewal of our thoughts. I can rest secure knowing the walls of God’s presence, like the walls of Carrickfergus Castle, will not be overtaken. In the words of James Bryan Smith, “I am one in whom Christ dwells and delights. I live in the strong and unshakeable Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is not in trouble, and neither am I.”