It steals in quietly before the first flicker of dawn. It’s grey shadows move across my unconscious mind, hovering overhead, bearing down on my disquieted sleep.
One tiny thought disrupts any hope of peaceful rest and within an instant pulls me under, dragging me into the deep where thoughts swallow me whole like the whale that swallowed Jonah.
Fear.Cold, callous fear.At times, fear consumes me before I can even catch my breath.
An enigmatic enemy, a formidable foe and an opportunistic oppressor, fear steals the ground underneath my feet and leaves me hanging by a thread.Lost, without hope.
Hopelessness betrays any prospect of faith and holds me both terrorized and terrified by the deep pangs of fear itself.My body knows the tremors.It has memorized the movements within and almost instinctively sways underneath such a fierce weight.
Charles Spurgeon once said of fear,
The worst evils of life are those which do not exist except in our imagination. If we had no troubles but real troubles, we should not have a tenth part of our present sorrows. We feel a thousand deaths in fearing one, but the (Christian) is cured of the disease of fearing.
Sometimes my battle with fear has gotten the best of me, but I’m no longer surrendering the fight in my effort to escape its terror.I’m not sitting back, waiting for its mighty force to invade my peace sanctuary.No longer holding my breath in dread, hoping it somehow passes me by, because in reality, it never does.
I’m learning to attack it…with a vengeance.This is all-out war and I’m in training to become a mind warrior, a thought gladiator.I’m purposing myself for the fight and I’m going in battle-ready!
No matter what our struggle is, be it fear, panic, worry, or despair, the battle will be won or lost in our minds and as Christians, we have so many tools to fight the spiritual battle —and win.Here are three truthsI’ve learned from the book, Battle Ready: Train Your Mind to Conquer Challenges, Defeat Doubt, and Live Victoriouslyby Kelly Balarie, that can equip each of us —because it takes a warrior mindset to win the spiritual mind war!
#1 Truth —We have a spiritual enemy who is trying to defeat us
Sometimes we lose focus.Sometimes the circumstances of life distract and overwhelm us to the point we forget the most important thing —this is war, and we better prepare ourselves to win, or be prepared to lose.
It’s that simple.
Ephesians 6:12(NIV) says, For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.
I Peter 5:8-9(NIV) also says that, Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
They say the best defense is offense. That’s why we don’t have the choice of sitting back, of settling in, or of living our spiritual life on cruise control.
And God is right here in the battle with us. He sees us in our struggles, He understands every sorrow and every soul ache.He stands there waiting for us —to lead us, guide us, coach us and strengthen us for the fight.He wants us to be aware so that we can be prepared.
We have an enemy who is trying to defeat us…but we know that, the One who is in [us] is greater than the one who is in the world. (I John 4:4, NIV)
We’ve got this, if we lean in and seize it.
#2 Truth —We can become mind warriors for a spiritual mind war
We don’t always have to run from the demons in the headlights.We don’t have to cower at the thought of battle.We don’t.
Our power comes from within.Christ in us, the hope of glory, lives within and He gives us the supernatural power to take back the negative thought-patterns, the destructive beliefs about ourselves and others, and reclaim our minds as God’s territory.
In Battle Ready,Kelly Balarie states, The thoughts I sow create the life I reap.
Battle Readyexplains so much about the types of negative thinking and how they form destructive neural pathways in our brains.But the great news is, our brains are flexible, a trait called neural plasticity, and what was learned can be unlearned, giving us the power to train our minds toward more hopeful, more truthful, more compassionate internal thought patterns.
Take the ‘Find Your Battle-Style Quiz’NOW and create a personalized daily battle plan !!!!!
2 Corinthians 10:5(NIV) also tells us to, demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
If the Bible commands us to take every thought captive, perhaps it is because He has already empowered us to do it. We don’t have to wait for the miracle, the miracle is here.
It is our choice whether we engage the battle to win, or sit quietly on the sidelines and settle into the rhythms of defeat, succumb to the ‘I can’t’mentality, and surrender the war that Christ has already won on our behalf.
We can become mind warriors in this spiritual war, and we can win.The battle has already been won.Let’s go claim the victory.
#3 Truth —We can prepare for battle with prayerful minds and thankful hearts
When we are focused on our fear, consumed by our circumstances, it is hard to feel prayerful or thankful for much of anything.All we see is an endless desert wasteland and all we want is to see the Promised Land.
Like the Israelites wandering in the wilderness, we grumble.We complain.We despair.
We say,
How did this happen?
Where is God?
Why have You not rescued me?
A prayerful mind says,
I feel overwhelmed, but I will cast all of my cares on You.
I don’t know what to do, but I will put my trust You.
I don’t know what the future holds, but I know You hold my future.
A thankful heart says,
Thank You for Your faithfulness to me in the midst of my circumstances.
Thank You for Your goodness at work in my life even when I can’t see.
Thank You for the gift of Your presence because that is all I need.
So subtle, yet so powerful.Battle Readyshares strategies to teach us how we can shift our focus and cultivate prayer and thankfulness as a battle strategy to overcome and win.
Phillippians 4:8 (NIV)encourages us, Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
So when the grey shadows try to steal quietly overhead, when darkness moves in at the first light of dawn attempting to drown me in fear, I have a battle plan. You can have a battle plan, too.You can recognize the enemy.You can become mind warriors for this spiritual mind war we’re in.You can prepare for battle with prayerful minds and thankful hearts.
Our God has won, so I know we will win.We will win as long as we’re geared up and Battle Ready!
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Take the ‘Find Your Battle-Style Quiz’NOW and create a personalized daily battle plan !!!!!
About This Community
Don't we all want a little peace? My heart for this community is to provide just that - a needed refuge from all the burdens that weigh us down, some encouragement and inspiration to keep us weary travelers moving forward on our journeys, and some practical advice to help each of us navigate the challenges of life and relationships. Whether in our parenting, our marriages, our faith, or the broken places in our hearts, this place is for anyone who dares to reach beyond the hopelessness that surrounds us and embrace a lifestyle of emotional abundance and peace!
About Peace for a Lifetime
In my new book, Peace for a Lifetime, I share the keys to cultivating a life that’s deeply rooted, overflowing, and abundant, the fruit of which is peace. Through personal and professional experience as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I've discovered how to take the broken pieces of life and find indestructible peace with myself, God and with others. Through my story and other’s stories you’ll realize that you can experience the life for which you long. You can experience abundance beyond anything you can imagine. You can experience peace, not just for today, not just for tomorrow. You can experience peace —for a lifetime!
Peace for a Lifetime is available on Amazon.com.
Book Trailer: https://vimeo.com/155392891