Sandbagged

We couldn’t believe it! We were actually in Maui! My husband, Ed, and I celebrated our 50th Anniversary with a once-in-a-lifetime trip to this beautiful island. While growing up, we frequented the beaches of Southern California, so spending time by the ocean was a dream come true.

We walked the beaches daily, both along the sandy shoreline and on the boardwalk. We noticed an area of the boardwalk where an elaborate process of sandbagging had taken place. Some spots were being repaired because of the brutal beating of the waves. On our last day, we saw men discussing how more sandbagging could be added in a new area, extending what had already been done.

The ongoing, aggressive pounding of ocean waves was seriously eroding the shoreline, making the fringe of land at the edge of the ocean dangerous for swimmers.

As we watched the waves relentlessly attacking the shore, the Holy Spirit (God) began drawing a parallel. When the enemy (the devil) comes against our minds with negative thoughts, it looks like this natural scene. The constant assault against the shoreline of our minds begins to erode its healthy boundaries. We give way to vain imaginations and negative thoughts that take us places God never intended us to go.

In the natural, the sandbagging along Maui’s shore is not effective. The force of the waves continues to push against it. But in the spiritual realm, the Holy Spirit’s sandbagging of our minds girds up and protects them from any assaults. We have only to ask for His help.

In 1 Peter 1:13 NKJV, we read, “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to “sandbag” and protect our minds from the erosion of a negative thought life. Our part is to be obedient to yield to the process! That means, we need to read the Bible every day to keep our minds healthy. And, we can do more than just read, we can meditate on what we’ve read and ask God to give us understanding.

In the Amplified Version, the same verse reads, “So prepare your minds for action, be completely sober [in spirit – steadfast, self-disciplined, spiritually and morally alert], fix your hope completely on the grace [of God] that is coming to you when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

That’s what we want! Let’s get sandbagged!