When Paul told the Ephesians that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, he was acknowledging that we are in a war. We are in a spiritual war. He said in I Timothy 6:12, “Fight the good fight of faith…”
The battle is in your mind. Battlegrounds are dangerous places. The warning of II Corinthians 11:3 is, “as the serpent beguiled Eve so your minds can be corrupted.” Everyone is in a battle – as some evil force is seeking to corrupt your mind, thoughts, feelings, emotions, and decisions.
Life is filled with stress, fears, pressures, problems, anxieties, temptations, and struggles. Our mind is frequently a war zone. There are skirmishes and all-out battles going on. It is tempting to get depressed, or anxious, or angry, or confused. Wrong thoughts linger despite our attempts to clear them away.
Satan seeks to conform your thoughts, we seek a transformed, renewed mind. See Romans 12:2. We come to church to be refreshed, to recharge our spiritual batteries, to replenish our spiritual supplies, to strengthen our armor, and to get ready to continue the good fight of faith.
In the blaring cacophony of voices, among the blathering noise of our daily lives, amidst the siren song of worldliness, surrounded by all the things that would plunge our minds into turmoil; we need times of refreshing that come from the presence of the Lord.
We want to leave each church service ready to do battle. There is so much turmoil, confusion, depression, deception, temptation, in our world. It can get to us, even Christians in the body of Christ.
What is the remedy? The remedy is found in a close relationship with the Lord. There are five aspects of that remedy – they are all interconnected.
One of the greatest promises we have is peace. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27.
That promise is for now in this life – it is not reserved for the hereafter. Ephesians 2:14 says Jesus is our peace. He made peace. Verse 15. He preached peace. Verse 17. Again, the battle is fought in the mind. But peace is the fruit of victory. Isaiah 26:3: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”
If I can, I want to offer biblical assurance to everyone who is carrying a burden on their hearts. You have the privilege of being able to replace all of life’s uncertainties and turmoil and stresses with a peace that defies human logic.
Philippians 4:7: “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Very few people on earth have the remedies that have been given to you. And despite all, despite the curse, despite bad things, we are supposed to have peace of heart.
Don’t let the devil trick you into blaming God for the load you may be carrying. Life’s troubles and turmoil and stress are not God’s fault. We read in Ecclesiastes 7:29: “God made man upright, but he sought out evil inventions.”
Originally, everything was good and very good. Genesis 1:31. There was no stress, no psychological problems in Eden. No worries, fears, no anguish. Adam and Eve were mentally-secure, innocent and at peace. That’s what God intended for us. But we now have stress and worry and fear and turmoil. Why? Because sin brought the curse. All mental problems are the result of sin.
But even before God pronounced the curse – Adam no longer had peace. He hid from God, mentallyworried, and fearful of rejection. Adam and Eve were already insecure before the curse. Sin did that. The peace, the feeling of significance, the security that comes from a relationship with God, vanished when sin entered.
Sin separates from God. Isaiah 59:2. But Jesus not only took our sin on the cross, but He also made reconciliation. We have been reconciled with God. Romans 5:8-10 teaches that we are both saved and reconciled.
In prayer, and in faith, claim what is yours! Peace is your God-given gift. Reach for it! Hold it! Don’t let anything or anybody take that peace from you.
But there is so much stress, turmoil, trouble, tribulation, sickness, suffering, sadness, death of loved ones, in this life. These things can rob us of the peace we are entitled to.
We know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Romans 8:22. You are not alone in your distress. This battle is universal. Very few people are very happy very long. And members of this body are not exempt. Verse 23: “And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”
We see sickness, famine, war, and chaos in the world. But what troubles our minds are the evils that touch us personally. Far too many saints are stressed, worried, fearful, struggling under the load, illness, debilitating conditions. And no doubt, some are depressed. Depression is a low mood that lasts for a long period of time. Depression causes you to feel hopeless, despairing, guilty, worthless, exhausted, and unmotivated.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Understand, however, that having the Holy Ghost or being in the body of Christ is no automatic exemption from the troubles of life. Christians sometimes develop a misguided belief that God will take such good care of them that they shouldn’t ever see trouble or tribulation in life.
But life isn’t that way. The curse is relentless. Bad things happen to good people. God has His reasons, but the fact remains that we have to battle against the depression and heartache that this life brings.
In the battle in your mind, be determined not to let anything break the peace Jesus gave you. Blessed are the peacemakers, but life is full of peace-breakers. Guard against them. Be prepared. Be vigilant. Stop those thoughts as soon as you recognize them. Don’t let the affairs of this life steal the peace and joy you found in salvation.
Never forget, Jesus offers to ease your burden. His promise in Matthew 11:28 is that He will carry your heavy burden. We sometimes carry loads ourselves, when the Lord would gladly carry them for us. Verse 30 says His yoke is easy and His burden is light. So why are we carrying a heavy one?
If the load you are carrying is guilt, then repent and let your sin be washed away. The burden will then be gone. If it is secret sin, forsake it. John was writing to saints, not the ungodly, when he said in I John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
If the load you are struggling under is fear – train your mind to trust Him. Some form of the phrase “fear not” is in the Bible 366 times – once for each day of the year. Whatever the load, if it is heavy, the Lord doesn’t require you to carry it.
Next, remember that the Lord is interested in saving your soul, not saving your body. What happens to you in life – good or bad – can be good for the salvation of your soul. The strong assurance of Romans 8:28 is that all things, even bad things, work together for our good.
We can get discouraged and confused when life doesn’t go the way we wanted it to go. We get sick, we have financial distress, we lose loved ones to death. These are damaging to the outer man, but they can work good for the inner man. “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” II Corinthians 4:16.
Virtually every mental problem humans experience is the result of perverted emotions. God gave us the ability to experience emotions like love, anger, etc. They are good – unless twisted and magnified beyond the normal. Anger can become sinful. You can love the wrong thing – or the wrong person.
We battle mental stresses and turmoils. We will until we receive a glorified body. But we can win the battles. Everyone encounters crises in life. Death of a loved one, losing a job, disease, etc. Sometimes, life seems like one crisis after another.
A crisis is an event that necessitates emotional adjustments on our part. Usually, they are the result of sudden and unexpected events in life. Things don’t happen the way we expected. We are surprised by unanticipated events or reactions. We start to feel insecure. The future that once looked so certain, now is uncertain. Things aren’t going to happen like we thought they would. And we begin to experience insecurity.
It’s almost as if the ground we are standing on is shaking. All of our plans are shattered. The devil uses our insecurities to burden our hearts. He might make us feel insignificant – as if we are unimportant, and nobody cares about us. We feel that we aren’t any good; we can’t do anything right. Satan whispers that nobody cares about us. We can even doubt whether God loves us. Longrepressed doubts can re-surface.
There is a battle in the mind; but your life has significance because God loved you, because Jesus saved you, and because of the impact you have on others. Don’t believe Satan’s lies. You are significant – to the Lord, and to many people.
Mental turmoil not only makes someone feel insignificant, but also not secure. We doubt our salvation. We doubt our competence. We doubt our ability to handle the stresses and pressures of life. What we formerly faced bravely, now seems strangely frightening. We just don’t feel safe.
We forget that underneath are the everlasting arms. You cannot be plucked out of His hands. Don’t listen to the lies of the devil! Proverbs 4:23 admonishes to “guard” your heart. Significance and security come from a right relationship, a saving relationship, with the Lord. Without that close relationship, we can develop mental distress.
Our relationship with the Lord is what assures the heart of significance and security. Counsel with the Lord – and with your pastor, or a wise friend, if needed. Isaiah 1:18 is where the Lord said, “come let us reason together.” Talk with the Lord and listen for Him to talk to you. You are significant because God bestowed His love on you. As unworthy as you are, He deliberately chose to love and save you.
You are secure because, despite all, He will bring you through. He will not give up on you. Philippians 1:6 states that promise: “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” I Peter 1:13. To gird up your loins means to prepare for action. The phrase, “gird up,” is in the Old Testament several times and alludes to tucking up the traditional long robe into the girdle, or broad belt, so it won’t hamper physical activity, like fighting or running.
Peter was saying to gather up and bind up your thoughts – don’t let them run wild. You can, through God’s help, win the battle for control of your thoughts. II Corinthians 10:4 says you’ve been given mighty weapons, can pull down mental strongholds. The next verse says, “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
Recognize that those thoughts are imaginations. They aren’t true. They are contrary to what you know about God, His love, and His plan. Capture wild thoughts. Don’t let them run free. They’ll take you where you don’t want to go.
An unbridled horse cannot be controlled – it goes wherever it wants. But a bridle gives the rider control. James 3 speaks of putting a bridle on the tongue – to control where it goes. But you can bridle your thoughts and take control of where they go.
A lot of what we think are reasons are really just “imaginations.” Capture your thoughts. Don’t let them run wild. Build a fence around them. Pray, sing, study, listen to body messages, get involved with family or friends or church, connect with other people, but don’t dwell on the negativity of your thoughts.
Again, Romans 12:2 tells us to renew our mind. That means to change your thought patterns. Force the brain to use different neural pathways. It may be hard. It will take time and effort. But “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13. Winning the battle of the mind is part of overcoming.