Recently something I’ve been struggling with is anxiety. I find myself, often without realizing that I’ve begun, worrying about the future or dwelling on past mistakes that cause me to worry more. My mind gets caught up in my feelings of inadequacy or lack of control. Then the Lord brings verses like Romans 8:6 to my mind. In these moments I realize that worry, anxiety, and shame is exactly where Satan would want me and nowhere near God would want me. God actually commands us not to worry, instructs us to give all our anxiety and cares to Him, and tells us that Christ’s death and resurrection has made us a new creation and set us free from shame. I don’t need to worry about anything or dwell on my own failures. In fact, I don’t need to dwell on myself at all. For the mind set on the flesh is DEATH. And sometimes, that’s exactly what spiritual attack feels like. Sometimes, you can feel so trapped by anxiety, worry, doubt, fear, or whatever else, that it seems like it will never end. In and of ourselves, we are inadequate and our flesh brings destruction. But the mind set on the Spirit of God is LIFE and PEACE. When we remember the glorious and gracious promises of the Lord our God, we can know with assurance that we who are His children can fix our minds on Him; ask Him to free us from our shame, fear, worry, etc.; and take our burdens from us because even if they are too much for us to bear, God has said that NOTHING is too hard for Him (Jer. 32:17, 27; Gen. 18:14). When our minds and hearts are fully consumed with Him, His Spirit brings us life and peace, the opposite of death. Lately I have been so thankful for the concreteness of the Word and that when I do feel assaulted by my own thoughts, it is always right there to remind me to set my mind on the Spirit and ask the Lord for His peace and life that He gives in abundance.
