Do you ever wake up sometimes and just feel heavy, tired and weighed down? Nothing has happened in the day. Your eyes simply flutter open to the consciousness of the tightness in your chest. A rush of thoughts flow through your mind and in that moment, you’re reminded of all the things that are wrong or not working in your life?
Have you ever received a word or promise from God with so much excitement, joy and hope only for time to roll by painfully as you await the fulfilment of the promise?
One of the biggest battles we will fight as wait on the fulfilment of God’s promises is the battle of the mind. It’s something many of us are familiar with – at least I am.
The goal of the enemy is to flood and fill your mind with fear, doubt, anxiety, discouragement, hopelessness, confusion, feelings of worthlessness, inadequacy and insecurity. As soon you decide to stand on God’s word and trust His promises, the devil goes into attack mode. It’s even more intense when you’ve been waiting for God to come through in an area of your life for a while. The enemy will try to invade your mind. He will make you see how you’re far behind in life and how the world has moved past you. He will tell you that God’s promises to you are only a figment of your imagination. He will try to make you question if you ever even heard from God. He will tempt you to doubt God’s love and His goodness. He will tell you that you’re stuck and that this is all there is to your life. He will tell you that you’re not good enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough, not talented enough, too old or too young. He will try to get you to throw in the towel and give in to despair, discouragement and depression. He will deploy all the weapons in his arsenal and he will attack your mind.
Dear one, this is the time to FIGHT. Fight for your mind. Fight to guard your heart. Fight for your faith. Fight through your tears. Fight through your frustrations. Fight through your questions. Fight, not for victory but FROM victory because you’ve long ago been declared “more than a conqueror”. Say it out loud to the defeated foe and let it be clear that you will not give up, you will not lose hope and you will not stop trusting God.
Some days you won’t feel like it but fill your heart with the word of God. There are hundreds of plans/devotionals on YouVersion you can read from. There’s a plan for whatever situation you’re in. Just type whatever you’re feeling and something will come up. Be deliberate about feeding your mind with the word. The word of God is the sword of the spirit (Eph 6:17)
Pray in the Holy Ghost! Your build up your faith when you do so (Jude 1:20), your strength is renewed, you connect with the Spirit of God on a level that is higher than the enemy can ever reach and you pray the will of God.
Worship! And sometimes, do nothing but listen to worship music and let the lyrics refresh your soul. When you worship, speak of His greatness, His character, His mighty power, His wonders, splendour and majesty. He is the Great I am. He is your bridge over troubled waters. He is your peace. He is your anchor. He is your unfailing rock. He is all sufficient. He is the covenant keeping God. He is the mighty deliverer. Worship will dethrone every lie as you see how big your God is in comparison to whatever you may be facing. (Job 26:7-14, Ps. 119:90, Deut 7:9)
Finally, talk to someone! If you’re not sure who, ask God to send you a friend indeed; someone who has the wisdom of God and can speak life and hope into your life. I have been a beneficiary of relationships like this and I tell you, it’s great to be able to lay down those burdens and have someone speak strength into your life! (Prov. 27:17, Ecc. 4:9-10)
Right now, I speak peace to every heart that is raging with fear, confusion, discouragement and doubt. I declare that God has not given you the spirit of fear but of love, power and a sound mind. I curse the spirit of depression. I release the spirit of joy and peace, strength and hope in the name of Jesus! We overcome for we are more than conquerors!
That God would place this dream in my heart and entrust me with a vision such as this seems rather ironic to my natural senses; but I love how gracious God is in that He often reaches out for the seemingly unqualified and the most unlikely candidate when He has an important task to execute.