Man can sometimes mirror machine. Not only has he the ability to function all day and night; sub-sectioning a vast intake whilst constantly re-charging but he also has the capacity to ‘break down’. Human nature has a way of dismissing that which it does not wish to face. Anything that causes internal conflict or outer uncomfortability can cause us to run like prey as if it were conscious of its predator.
Our life is the arena and we are the centre stage of it. All activity concerning us is present in the centre whilst spectators have their active or passive input. Our mind, will and emotions (soul), heart, spirit and physical being are all part of this centre which is affected by the activities of everyday life.
Situations and circumstances (activities of life) trailed alongside their outcomes form us as a people. Their affects shape and help build us into the people who we become and are today. These outcomes can have vibrant or fatal affects on us. We manifest the outcomes our situations and circumstances internally have on us. How we handle the outcomes begin to flow from us. They manifest behaviours and attitudes.
Our arenas; education, religion, work, economy and finance, politics, relationships- love/ family/ friends, culture and other avenues become infected . The exterior gives insight into the interior. How we handle decisions and choices, confusion, beliefs and doubts, unmet desires, frustrations and anger, discouragement, violence and abuse, etc is key to our internal selves.
At any given time or age these impacts on our heart, soul and physical selves still make us prone to the ability to shut ‘ones-self’ down. Today’s society is no better than the ancestors that have lived before us and those yet to be birthed in a distant future. Even Adam and Eve hid once they had disobeyed God’s instructions (Genesis 3). Life and its hand dealings still have their impact on us.
The problem occurs when we internalise the problems by not handling them well or maybe not at all. We section off the parts we do not want to face. They become little stacker boxes or locked up crates with keys that can only be found in a treasure hunt. Some shut whilst others open. Internally we can hide in every corner or dark valley available to us that allows us to find shade rather than the light we need. We become masters of masquerading rather than transparent beings.
When we begin to shut down internally rather than be honest and face our Goliath’s (giants or mountains) we have a major problem. Not only will we become distant from our real selves but we begin to die inside.
Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee” (King James Version).
Regardless of religion or culture the above scriptural principle applies. Whatever you think you are, you become. The only way of outgrowing what we become is in changing our thoughts and emotions through our decisions from the impacts of life. We become better or worse people based on the internal attitude and what we have been told of who we are and who we internally choose to be, leading to our external manifested self.
Life is different for every person, some worse than others but all still damaging in a way to that particular individual, which I think we all can agree on. The best advice is that regardless of what has happened, seek help. Whether it be through religion or counsel; never internally shut down or get addicted to something that will numb the pain of an internal bleed. Do not internally box yourself up into compartments and write on them the wounds of what happened. Dealing with every box is beneficial, hard but beneficial to you being ALIVE internally.
We think that because everything looks ok on the outside that all is fine but if the inside of a man is not living then he is walking dead.
Proverbs 4:23 reading from the New Living Translation version of the Bible reads “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life”.
Your heart is central to who you are. When you stop living from it you begin to feel its affects. Life throws some wicked curve balls at us but we can choose to face them and their percussions or internally shutter box; functioning with the lights off. Find a way to not shut down internally but face who you are becoming or have become internally.
Gollum from Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit is a fascinating character. His transformation from Smeagol to Gollum through his journey of corruption, deception and covetousness all because of one thing… a ring… a DEEP DESIRE.
Most of us know the journey of Gollum from Lord of the Rings. To summarise this in relation to my blog post; Gollum finds a ring created by the evil dark Lord Sauron which he created to rule over all the other rings of power and ultimately all of Middle Earth. This ring attracts all by causing them to yearn and desire it, the power it holds to rule and live selfishly. This ‘wanting’ is what ultimately led to Gollum’s demise and is something that I want to relate to real life; deep desires.
1. Smeagol2. Transformation Process3. Gollum
The Latin word for desire is dēsīderāre which means to long for, desire, feel the want of, miss or regret. Desires are something that all humanity have. As created beings we always need or long for something; whether it be a person, food, drink, money, knowledge, material goods or even power just to consider a few examples; we want something. Dating back to Biblical context even the very first human, Adam, needed something and God gave him Eve (Geneis 2:18-25).
Wanting or needing something is not bad as that is part of life but when you begin to covet, this becomes another issue as you begin to worship that which you eagerly seek.
James 1: 13-15
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin;and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. (NIV)
To summarise the above Biblical reading it states that God does not tempt us but we are tempted by our own evil desires. Temptation speaks of enticing or alluring to do something often seen as unwise, wrong or immoral (Dictionary.com); and within the scripture is connected to our own personal desires. Let me just add that I am not saying all desires are wrong but those which we know are wrong but to continue to go after are the ones I am referring to. These desires give birth to sin (that which is wrong in God’s eyes) and eventually leads to death. The ring was evil and Gollum was attracted by the evil of the ring as was Eve being attracted to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3); not by might but now by personal interest; now what we call man’s nature. Does this sound familiar to you? Whether you are Christian or not the above Biblical principal stands as we can all relate to wanting things that are not good for us and them leading us down the wrong path in life.
Psalm 42:1
As the hart pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after you, O God. (KJV)
I think we can relate to this within a broader context. As a dear thirsts for water, the psalmists soul pants to God. In our world this speaks to our desires going deeper than we think but actually our SOUL wanting these things. To pant is to breathe hard and quickly, to gasp for air or to long something with breathless or intense eagerness; yearn (Dictionary.com). When you want something and are enticed by it enough, you will go after it at any cost. The desire has been fed and the slavery has begun… the habitual habit has formed. It becomes something you worship. Dan Blythe from Hillsong church ministered a message a while ago about worship and taught on what worship was. However in the message he spoke about addictions and how we do not have addictions but we have a worship problem. When we continually desire after something that is wrong we enter into coveting after it and that now is something we worship as it is all we want; which is what you can see happened to Gollum.
Romans 5:12-21 talks about the differences between Adam and Christ in nature and act. When Adam and Eve sinned against God (did wrong in Gods eyes- Genesis 3) then every other human being did by default, sin became human nature and something we were born into (Psalm 51:5) but Christ was the opposite. Isn’t it interesting that Eve was the first to experience covetousness…
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. Genesis 3:6 KJV
Believe me my friend you are not the first or the only person in the world to have desired something which you know is wrong. Eve desired to know more eve when she was told not to eat of this particular tree in the garden, the mythical beings from Lord of the Rings desired the power of the ring to rule man and do as they pleased, even Paul felt the battle between wanting to do right whilst still yearning to do that which he knew was wrong.
Romans 7:14-20
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.c For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. (NIV)
Simply take a look at humanity today; we desire what feeds us, what feeds our souls whether right or wrong. Craving and yearning for something so much that it nearly destroys you mentally, physically, emotionally or spiritually. Have you ever just needed to get that quick fix again; to have what you once had, never had or what someone else has because of that yearning and deep attraction pull inside your inner self? This is exactly what happened to Gollum. Even though the ring attracts life, Gollum moved into the state of coveting after the ring as it now became the very thing he wanted at no cost. He deceived Frodo and Sam, almost killing them in order to have the ring to himself. To covet is to wrongfully desire something with no regard to others or eagerly wish for something- Dictionary.com (notice this is different to hope as it causes you to take action into your own hands in an incorrect manner). It is a selfish act of obtaining ones own desire.
Luke 12:34
Your heart will be where your treasure is. (God’s Word Translation)
Desires are connected to our minds and hearts. As they are things we want they connect, react and pull on what is already in us. Emotions follow these and the thought, life and energy we give to them in our hearts and minds determine the impact of the impulses we act on. For instance once Gollum had the ring he wanted it so much that he did all he could to get it, even murder. When a drug abuser has had that all time high they want it again and again and again. When someone loves sex they want it more and more and more. Your appetite for what you desire has to be fed regardless of the consequences, the habit must meet the desire.
Romans 8:12-14
So don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go! (MSG version)
You don’t have to do what you want to do. You have a choice to not do what you want to do but it takes a lot of will power to not do so. However when you have become a slave to a habit then the breaking away from it is not so easy. We turn to what we think will help break these habits; prayer, counsellors, rehab groups but when we keep failing to break away from giving into these evil desires we can fall into giving into them and no longer fighting their sting.
Romans 1:28
Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. (NIV)
When we give up the battle and power to fight against what is wrong, we can make the mistake of giving into it; surrendering to it. If you are a Christian then we are to acknowledge God and invite him into the situation. For those who do not follow Christianity then this principle still applies; not necessarily by inviting God in depending on what you believe but there is that need to share or tell someone so you can get help. When you feel defeated or give up on fighting against the wrong desire then you will eventually give into it, as so for Christians when God will give them over unto their own evil desires.
I am not saying that you must convert to Christianity but what I am saying is that deeply re-think about what you have become accustomed to worshipping. What habits have enslaved you because of being enticed time and time again to your wrongful desires. Pastor Michael from New Nation Destiny Centre shared a brief word about not feeding the wrong seed, feeding the wrong thing. To summarise it was about making sure we feed what is right and not what is wrong. When the church was in trouble Paul would always use the word ‘urge’ as an expression of his love and yearning for the people to re-consider and change their ways before it was too late. Seek good advice, counsel and even turn to prayer as prayer is not just for a select nation on getting out of your worship problem.
Desires are not wrong but when you become enticed by the wrong desires and covet after them you will eventually die; whether this be physically, mentally, spiritually or emotionally. T.D Jakes used the expression “spiritually rejuvenated but emotionally handicapped”. Don’t think you can control something when you are enslaved to it, recognise it has a hold over you and turn to the right source in order to deal with it and break its hold over you. Don’t allow your evil desires to run untamed, control you and cause death. Learn from Frodo and fight against the wrong desire with the help of others rather than give into it and have no one like Gollum. Let Gollum be a reality of what your future will be if you do not control the wrong deep desires within you.
Also read: The Analogy of the Ring, a great blog post via The Analogous Truth which I found in relation to Gollum and addictions.
Impressional Imprint 