Those thoughts… You know those ones that come at night when it’s time to rest. The ones that fog reality and sting your hopes.
“You’re alone. Nobody wants you. You will never be loved in the way that you want to be. You have messed up. You’re not worthy. The world is falling apart and it’s taking you down too.“
They come out of nowhere, creeping in. They make themselves known.
Even though I have moments when I question my strength to fight them, deep in my soul God planted His words “ you are mine“ when I decided to let him love me. These are the words that break down the walls of darkness that, at the time, seem impossible to let light in. They pull me to the surface where I can finally breathe again. I finally hear the birds and feel the gentle wind upon my face. I am back in His glorious creation.
But, in these moments of doubts and lies flooding into my thoughts I realize time and time again that I am being given an opportunity for a deeper level of intimacy with my sweet Father, the only One who has loved me unconditionally. The day that I allowed Him to call me His, I was immediately equipped to fight battles. The biggest battle being my thoughts.
Something I seem to forget often is how much our thoughts influence everything. The way the world is today started with somebody‘s thoughts. Thoughts are powerful. We shouldn’t underestimate them, but fight them (the bad ones).
In Ephesians 6:10-20, God tells us to put on the full armor that He created for us to fight battles and stand against evil. With the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. In addition to all of these things, He equips us with the shield of faith, with which we can distinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And finally, He tells us to pray on ALL occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. He equips us so we can be alert and always keep praying for the world.
Those thoughts will try to make themselves known again one day. They will try to creep in and take away my joy and hope. But I have the King on my side and He’s never going to fail me or you. If you haven’t let Him into your heart, I promise it will be the best decision you’ll ever make. He sacrificed Himself so we can fight these battles, starting with the ones in our minds. I encourage you and me to keep taking those opportunities that feel like slaps in the face to trust His goodness and know there’s more to life than this (although there IS still so much good). What’s waiting for us on the other side is better. We have an inheritance. We have a room in his house.
