Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6
It is funny sometimes how our minds work. It is interesting how it processes what we repeatedly say to ourselves. The negative things we say get processed in our minds, stored in the heart, and spoken out with our mouths—likewise, the positives.
Guess who likes to use the negatives against us? The enemy, because he dwells in negativity, lies, and deceit. Remember, the devil has no new tricks but recycles and repackages the same old lies and tries to resell them back to us. So if we are constantly in a state of negativity, guess what? We give him the ammunition to shoot back at us.
I took care of a patient in the hospital who was there because she was sick and needed medical treatment. What struck me with what she said one day was that she wanted to leave against medical advice because she needed to calm her anxiety down by smoking. She said that if she does not smoke, her anxiety will be out of hand.
My point here is not the smoking, but that she was ready to walk away from the help she needed because of that thought that kept replaying in her mind. I am not judging. I know we all have been through some things and maybe are still going through something right now. But, it is time to let go and let God.
That encounter with the patient made me reflect on myself. For years, I have always wanted to stop eating so late at night because of health reasons. I knew this, but I was in denial, always telling myself I could never stop eating late because I would never make it through the night and things like that. Finally, it dawned on me one day, and I started praying about it and made up my mind to work toward it. So I did (I am still working at it every day). For the past two months, I have stopped eating late. Yes, I have derailed a couple of times, but I went right back to it, and I have been sleeping and feeling better.
Remember, we can ask God for even the smallest things we think we should not be asking. After all, God said in Matthew 7:7, “ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
What happened here is that we have given whatever that thing (habit) is the power to control us when it should be the other way round. For example, I know that food is a necessity of life, but there should be some control. In the name of Jesus, I have the power within me to control that start and stop time, especially when it is at the expense of my health.
You have the power too!
We all know we are not perfect. We might derail here and there, I know I have, but get back up and keep fighting. It is a process that might not be stopped right away, but we need to start from somewhere. Make that conscious decision to work at it with prayers, of course. We have to do our parts and let God take care of the rest because faith without work is dead.
God gave each one of us the spirit of love, power, and a sound mind/self-control, not a spirit of fear. What happens is that we get so afraid to stop these habits because of one thing or the other. That’s what the enemy wants – for us to be afraid and keep telling ourselves that we cannot do it and destroy God’s good plans for us.
We shouldn’t! Do not give the enemy the ammunition to fight against you!
We have to love ourselves, and with the power that we have within us, in the name of Jesus, stand firm on the word of God and take back that control.
Being afraid is normal; we all have that moment when we go through it. What matters is not letting that fear consume us to the point that it puts our lives in danger.
Whoever is reading this now, wherever you are, I am encouraging you to rest on the word of God and take back that control, stay strong, and stay positive.
God is so loving, generous, kind – I can keep going. He wants us (each one of us) to succeed, and it does not matter at what point in life we are right this minute. He invites us to “ask.” Let us all humble ourselves, seek God, embrace Him, and profess His words over our lives every day.
Throw that anxiety to our loving Father who cares for each of us, and in exchange for that, He will grant you His supernatural peace. His peace transcends all human understanding, and nothing on earth will give us that peace that God gives.
May the peace of God guard our hearts and minds in the name of Jesus as we learn to cast all our fears and anxiety on Him who cares.
God bless you and your families, and may God’s peace dwell in our hearts now and forever! Amen.
Ngozi