Pulling into my driveway, I had no recollection of how I got there. What did I even think about while driving home? What work did I do this afternoon? My reflection in the rearview mirror looked like a stranger’s.
I was in a season where every morning it felt like someone hijacked my mind. Somehow, I was functioning as an employee, student and law-abiding citizen while also being in a reluctant trance from sunup to sundown.
Fear paralyzed me, and disordered eating controlled me. Both snuck up on me like a thief in the night. What started as an innocent bad thought, followed by a bad habit, ended up cornering me into a prison cell and chaining me to the lies of the evil one.
I was 22 years old. Surely my fellow classmates were also anxious about what job they would land, where they would live, and if they would get married. And isn’t diet culture, overexercising and hating your body just part of being a woman?
No. This world is broken, and it’s not how God intended it to be.
I was deep in the brokenness, no longer controlling or mastering my mind. Romans 6:16 says “you are slaves of the one you obey” (NIV). Of course, I didn’t mean to give into the enemy’s lies, but I did, and it reminded me of something author Oswald Chambers once said: “The first thing to do when confronting a habit or mindset that controls me is to face an unwelcome fact: I am responsible for being controlled because at some point I gave in.”
The bad news is that on our own, we’re not enough. But by receiving the unimaginable free gift of forgiveness and eternal life that Jesus offers through our faith in Him, we are enough. Colossians 2:9-10 says, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority” (NIV).
If you have turned from sin and put your trust in Christ, you have the Holy Spirit living in you (Ephesians 1:13). Now it does not matter how your life compares to another — God is enough in you, and you have all that you need.
Fortunately for us, our all-knowing God knew the struggles His people would face, so for every lie you hear, there is a truth found in the Bible to counter it. Your Creator says you are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14, NIV) in His image (Genesis 1:27). You were not created too big, too small, too quiet or too loud. You were made intentionally to be exactly the way that you are. The more you cling to these truths, the weaker the enemy’s lies will become in your mind.
After I spent months feeling trapped by something outside of myself, God’s Truth finally broke through to me, and I said, Enough is enough. I refused to believe my thoughts and behaviors were just part of being a new graduate, woman and human.
This is why it’s so important to recognize the power of both the enemy and God.
When you allow “innocent lies” about yourself into your head, those thoughts will soon outgrow your mind and turn into a way of living. When that happens, there is no human power strong enough to break that chain and defeat what will soon become a war in your mind, a fight for your soul. Oswald Chambers once wrote this truth: “No human power can break the bondage of a character that has been shaped by giving in … You must yield yourself in utter humiliation to the only one who can set you free, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
God says in Isaiah 45:22, “Look unto me, and be ye saved” (KJV). The next time you’re tempted to fear the future or believe a lie about yourself, look up. Seriously, look up and imagine God compassionately smiling down at you. Keep your eyes fixed on Him as you recall everything He promises to do and be. He alone holds the perfect and wise plans for your life (Jeremiah 29:11).
The enemy and the mind are powerful, but nothing is more powerful than our God.
Heavenly Father, thank You that nothing in my life goes unnoticed or happens outside of Your control. Today, I choose to surrender my fears and attempts to control the future into Your almighty hands. I know I can trust You, and I pray for Your guidance and protection today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
