I love reading about the ancient world, and one of the most interesting is the Gordian knot in Phrygia. The people of that region didn’t have a king, so one of their seers came up with a bright idea, and declared that the next man to ride through the gate, on a wagon, would be their king. Back then, seers were highly revered, and when they said inane stuff like that, it was called “an oracle,” and people waited breathlessly for it to happen. Well, it wasn’t long before some peasant rides through the gate on an ox cart. The seer said wagon, but ox cart was close enough, because everyone crowded around and made him king. But Gordias, the ox cart driver, dedicated his cart and ox to Zeus.
When Gordias tied the cart to a pole out Zeus’ temple, he used an intricate knot that he’d made up all on his lonesome. People noticed it on their way in to the temple, and they were soon trying to solve the puzzle of the knot. No one would’ve known about this thing, except for a seer declaring another oracle, that anyone solving the Gordian knot would rule all of Asia! But Gordias took steps to ensure it’d never be solved.
Over the centuries, the knot has been studied, researched, theorized, tested, and programmed in computers. Polish physicist Pieranski, and Swedish biologist Stasiak, may have actually reconstructed the Gordian knot, with help from a specially developed computer made by Pieranski. The result wasn’t a true knot, but a tightly twisted rope that had the ends spliced together. Aha…now we begin to see the light, so to speak. King Gordias wasn’t so dumb after all. He’d become king just because he rode into town that day to sell some goat cheese, and he wasn’t about to lose it all because the locals were making a big deal over a fancy knot he made up, so no one would steal his present to Zeus.
I think he pulled a switch—replaced it with the new, improved version that wasn’t meant to be solved. Even Rubik’s cube has a solution (eventually), but over the years, the knot attracted the most intelligent men of the time, and no one could solve it. Then, in 333 B.C. Alexander the Great came, and saw, and conquered. Alexander took king Gordias’ kingdom and rode into town to have a look at his prize. Gordias bitterly handed over all that was his, but had one last move to make in the game of life…the famous knot. He reminded Alexander of the oracle. Like any other man, Alexander conquered a kingdom with his army, but could he conquer the knot to be the true king of Asia?
The loser was sticking a pin in Alexander’s ego, and watched to see if he’d deflate or not. Alexander had heard of the Gordian knot, and he looked around at the challenge glittering in the eyes of the conquered. Okay, he’d go take a look at this knot, so he rode over to the temple as people excitedly gathered.
Alexander was highly intelligent, a former student of Aristotle, a brilliant commander, and strategist. I don’t think it took more than thirty seconds of observation as he walked around the Gordian knot, to come to the conclusion that it was an unsolvable puzzle. But now he had his own conundrum—besides the people of the city he’d just beaten in battle, his own men were crowded around, waiting for him to solve the knot. Alexander was a winner, and if he just stated that it couldn’t be solved and walked away…well, it was unthinkable, he might as well say, “I give up, it’s too hard!” The air was thick with expectancy, and the seconds ticked by as he stared in frustration.
He was a conqueror, he lived by the sword—what would people say if he couldn’t conquer a piece of rope? Suddenly, he shocked everyone by grabbing his sword hilt, the blade zinging out of the scabbard, and before they could gasp, the sword flashed up, chopped down on the knot, the sharp edge cleanly cutting it in two. He’d solved the puzzle the same way he’d done everything else—with the edge of the sword. Sheathing his sword, he walked confidently to his horse then rode off. Since the Gordian knot was purposely made to be unsolvable by conventional means, then it required unconventional means to solve the mystery. And Alexander did conquer Asia—that was his goal, and he wasn’t going to allow a twisted rope to get in his way.
This historic lesson could be applied militarily or corporately, but I saw a spiritual side to it. As the day of Jesus’ return draws closer, these last days are becoming more and more evil. Every person, every family, every Christian, has problems, and countless numbers of us have seemingly unsolvable problems we struggle with, day after day. A great many of us have problems that could be defined as Gordian knots. There’s just no end to it, and no solution…we’ve tried everything. It stands in the way of our goals and happiness, and frankly, we’re tired of looking at it. The doctors, lawyers, therapists, psychiatrists, councilors, pastors, you name it, they’ve all had a go at it. They tug, pull, test, talk, pray, hypothesize, test again, pray more, but it just won’t come unraveled.
And it’s there, entangling you, keeping you from a fulfilled life. But a guy named Alexander gave us a hint, and later, a Man named Jesus made it clearer, and gave us the weapons. The Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword (even Alexander’s), and is the only thing that will cut through these devilish Gordian knots. If you don’t think God is capable of healing you physically, mentally, or spiritually, from whatever is plaguing you, then you’re not just insulting Him, but limiting and doubting as well.
The Bible is rich soil, full of treasures waiting to be found, and a complete concordance is the perfect shovel to dig it out (seek and you will find). If your problem is sleeplessness, look up the word ‘sleep’ in the concordance, and then the corresponding scripture that fits your situation. And you don’t need dozens of scriptures, just two or three (2 Corinthians 13:1). Read them out loud during the day. When medicine is taken, we handle the bottle, so touch or hold the bible. It’s up to you how many times in the day, three or four, or once an hour, it’s your choice.
The word of God holds everything we need to combat whatever ails us, physically, spiritually, or mentally. Jesus took care of all our healing at the whipping post, before He went to the cross—that’s why the unsaved can receive healing (1 Peter 2:24). The crown of thorns that was thrust on His head represents our peace, sanity, memories, everything having to do with the brain—so that was taken care of too. And lastly, He saved our souls when He died on the cross—with everything taken care of, He gladly gasped that it was finished. But He also went the extra mile by entering hell and conquering Satan (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus took our sins upon Himself, and with all those sins on Him, He wasn’t allowed in heaven (Revelation 21:8). Even if one sin, for example lying, was on Him, the bible says liars aren’t allowed in heaven. So there was only one other place to go…hell. But even though Satan was defeated, he didn’t surrender. Which is why the world is so full of evil. But because Jesus conquered him, we’re instructed to resist him, not fight him (James 4:7). Every one who is born-again should never say that they’re fighting Satan. Jesus was the only One with the God-given anointing to defeat such a powerful (fallen) angel. So stop saying that you’re losing the fight, or Satan is beating you up, etc. That’s foolish talk. We’re holy members of the resistance of heaven.
The answers to our problems are in His book, and we all need to use the sword of the Spirit to cut through the Gordian knot(s) in our lives. When I’m weak, He’s strong. If the answer doesn’t immediately come, then my job is to continue standing—not sitting, lying, or complaining, but standing (Ephesians 6:13).
John 4:23, 24 