As I begin this article I want to encourage all of you to continue to pray and do what you can for all those across the many states that have been affected by the storms. We can only imagine what our day would be like if we woke to such a destruction today. Many of these people will wake to such broken worlds for months to come. Ask God to give them strength and peace.
In this article I want to wrap up the thought we have been following for the last three weeks, about overcoming the pressures and battles that go on in our mind. Whether you believe it or not scripture is clear in the fact that this is a battle and an area where we need to have God’s help to have victory and have it daily. So today I will finish this thought with what I personally try to do to push down satan on the battlefield of my mind.
For me it all starts with the Word of God. Isaiah 26:3 gives me the promise that the Lord will keep me. It states, “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You”. The amazing part of this verse is seen in its original texts as best as I can interpret it. You will guard and watch him or her in happy wholeness or safety whose mind, including imaginations, has taken ahold of the Lord because they trust in or have faith in the Lord. First in my life I have learned that I must and can put my trust and faith in what the Lord is doing. We cannot please the Lord if we cannot trust our life and living to Him. (Hebrews 11:6)
Jesus, in speaking to His disciples about the coming of His Spirit, the Holy Ghost, goes on to tell them that He gives them Peace (quietness and rest) and then reiterates it with My peace (quietness, rest). Then Jesus makes sure we know it’s not the peace we find in this world. He says let not your heart (mind, feelings, middle of your life) be troubled neither be afraid (timid) John 14:27.
Later in John 16:33 Jesus says He told these things that we might have peace, we will have anguish and burdens but keep your chin up He has already defeated that which is trying to overcome you. Again the thing I remind my self is I must have faith in the Lord, trust Him with my life and my living.
That said I know what it is like to go to battle daily on the battlefield of my mind. So there are some things I do personally to make sure I live with the peace Jesus promised me.
I realize that satan wants to give me fits in this arena so I pray daily in Jesus Name that I can cast down imaginations and vain thoughts. (2 Corinthians 10:5)
I have then changed my daily approach to life and living by doing several things.
• I am not afraid to say no to people. To tell them I can’t do it or be there. There is only one of me and I know I do the best I can and have tried to stop being guilty because I’m not superman.
• I am confident in the fact that I don’t have to know all the answers. I am not afraid to say, “I don’t know, I don’t have any idea.” I realize that people sometimes ask me questions to just make sure I am doing my job or they are trying to keep me on my toes. I decide its miserable to keep dancing 24/7, no one can perform at their best all the time even a ballet dancer has to sit down and walk normal.
• I don’t have to do everything. I am learning to trust other people to get the job done. Yes, they will no doubt do it differently than I would but if the results are even closes to the same what difference does it make. I am happy the job was done and I now have other people helping me hold up my responsibility.
• I am trying to stop explaining myself to those people who really don’t want an answer they just want to argue. This is wasted time in my life. Why do I want to give my breathing moments on earth to vain chatter? (Titus 3:9)
No, all these things will not fix everything but I do look at the actions of my daily life and see how healthy I am living. I really believe being emotionally healthy is very important to what God has called me to be. So I look at my living and decisions daily to see if I am living healthy.
Here is something to think about. It was passed on to me from my daughter Rachel.
"Wait to Worry"
An Excerpt from Attitude is Everything by Vicki Hitzges
I used to worry A LOT. The more I fretted the more proficient I became at it. Anxiety begets anxiety. I even worried that I worried too much! Ulcers might develop. My health could fail. My finances could deplete to pay the hospital bills.
A comedian once said, "I tried to drown my worries with gin, but my worries are equipped with flotation devices." While not a drinker, I certainly could identify! My worries could swim, jump and pole vault!
To get some perspective, I visited a well known, Dallas businessman, Fred Smith. Fred mentored such luminaries as motivational whiz Zig Ziglar, business guru Ken Blanchard and leadership expert John Maxwell. Fred listened as I poured out my concerns and then said, "Vicki, you need to learn to wait to worry."
As the words sank in, I asked Fred if he ever spent time fretting. (I was quite certain he wouldn't admit it if he did. He was pretty full of testosterone-even at age 90.) To my surprise, he confessed that in years gone by he had been a top-notch worrier!
"I decided that I would wait to worry!" he explained. "I decided that I'd wait until I actually had a reason to worry-something that was happening, not just something that might happen-before I worried."
"When I'm tempted to get alarmed," he confided, "I tell myself, 'Fred, you've got to wait to worry! Until you know differently, don't worry.' And I don't. Waiting to worry helps me develop the habit of not worrying and that helps me not be tempted to worry."
Fred possessed a quick mind and a gift for gab. As such, he became a captivating public speaker. "I frequently ask audiences what they were worried about this time last year. I get a lot of laughs," he said, "because most people can't remember. Then I ask if they have a current worry - you see nods from everybody. Then I remind them that the average worrier is 92% inefficient - only 8% of what we worry about ever comes true."
Charles Spurgeon said it best. "Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength."
I hope over the last few weeks you have read some things that will help you on the battlefield of your mind. Stay in the fight and put the fears, imaginations and anxieties under foot with the help of Jesus, He is on your side and you are not in this alone. Trust Him!
No comments:
Post a Comment