MIND TRICKS

When the devil says you’re less than but God says you’re more

Something that’s been heavy on my heart these past couple of months is emotional wellness. Our emotional health & wellness is something we ALL commonly neglect, which can build up and later be troublesome. Our spiritual walk ties in with our mental wellness and our faith can help us with our internal struggles.

About three weeks ago I gave a similar talk on emotional wellness at an ICPF Ignite session and coincidentally, not too long after I did, I found myself stuck in a bad mental state. What happens for the most of us is that a problem we go through can trigger some of the issues we try to bury away and it all eventually erupts. This was a particularly difficult week in my life, but I want to share what helped me get through it.

How can we use our faith to take care of ourselves?

The Christian walk was never promised to be an easy one. We all have gone through or will go through moments in our lives that really test our faith and if it is as strong as we proclaim it. One of the first points I want to make comes from a verse we all know in the beginning of James Chapter 1: “Consider it great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.”

Ok, but wait – rejoice? In the bad? I used to read this and think that is definitely easier said than done and not true. I mean how do you rejoice when it may feel like everything is slipping through your fingers? But i had to take a look at this verse and the word rejoice again. Even though the world we know may feel like or may actually be crumbling, what we rejoice is in our never changing, always present heavenly father. We rejoice in the fact that though everything may be going wrong, our God is still constant and still in control. This same God is the one who sees us and understands us when no one else may, the one who loves us with an everlasting love and fights for us. Focusing on the truth which is God helps us in knowing we’re not alone nor do we have to go through our struggles alone.  This also brings me to the next point of focusing on the facts.

The mind is known to be the devil’s playground. That is where we face almost all of our internal battles such as insecurities, fear, pain, etc. The enemy uses our thoughts to hurt us and bring us to low points. How can you overcome that? Focus on things you can control, and let go of things you can’t instead of dwelling on them. Remind yourself of 10 things you know for sure. We are all guilty of worrying about things that haven’t happened yet, and believing the lies the enemy tells us. I’m personally notorious for overthinking and jumping to irrational decisions. For me, personally, that stems from my internal struggle of fear and trauma. How can we overcome this? We have to reframe our thoughts and focus on the facts.

What facts do we focus on? Let us review:

Our God is constant and unchanging – Psalms 102:27 “ but you remain the same, and your years will never end.”

He is in Control – Joshua 1:9  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

He walks with us through our valleys and fights for us “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” – Deut. 31: 8

Remind yourself of who God is and who you are to God and how he sees you. Way too often we get caught up with what the world thinks of us and let the opinions of others wrongly define who we are and our worth. Remind yourself that God has a purpose for you and your life – Jeremiah 1:9 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew[a] you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Surround yourself with a community of like-minded people.

Thankfully we are all blessed to be a part of a tight-knit youth group who all have a passion to know God and grow more in Him daily. When we surround ourselves with a community whose eyes are fixed on Jesus, they will be there to lift us up in our times of need as well as help guide us with sound biblical advice. Allow yourself to be vulnerable and let them pour into your life. 

My last but most important point I want to end off with is delighting ourselves in God.

To delight ourselves in God means enjoying who God is and his goodness in our lives. We delight in everything that is of God. In order to do that, we need to recognize the barriers that hinder our growth in our faith. Do we prioritize things in our lives more than we prioritize the time we spend in prayer or in meditating the word of God? When we are able to spend more time in God’s word and prayer, we fill our hearts with truth that helps us discern the lies of the devil and what is of God. We will feel the nearness of God’s presence at all times, especially when we need him the most. There is a quote I recently saw on social media and it was along the lines of “you can’t say God is silent if your Bible is closed.”

So how did I get through that particularly difficult week in my life? It was harder than ever, but I needed to stop letting other people define my worth, and see myself how God saw me. I surrounded myself with people who were there to lift me up, give me sound advice, as well as pray for me and just sit there with me. I had to reframe my thoughts and the way I prayed. Instead of asking God, “why me?” I had to switch it up. I prayed, “this is killing me, but what do you want me to learn from this God?”, and you know what – God answered. It wasn’t in the most obvious way, but there was a lot I learned and had to change by the end of that week.

Draw closer to God today, pour your heart out to him and believe that God will see you through your struggles. James 4:8 “draw near to God and he will draw near to you”. Know that every struggle or pain you go through now is shaping you intro a stronger person and building up your endurance as

it says in James 1:12 – ”Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”

Love, A Woman of Worth

#community #mentalhealth #faith #confidance #God #emotionalhealth