Take 'Em Captive

I’ve been thinking about this verse lately:

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers, 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.

This verse reminds me that as a follower of Jesus, I need to focus on truth. Irrational, fearful thoughts should have no place in my mind. Lately my mind has been taking the latter route regarding our adoption. Usually it starts with me thinking: What if the child we adopt comes and messes up our family? Then from there, I can work myself up into an entire ‘what if’ situation that if left long enough to stir around in my mind, can create in me a horrible feeling of fear and uncertainty. And, this is how the devil works. He is out to destroy and confuse and deceive and to cause us to live in an unsure state. He makes the path ahead blurry, causes us to question God’s promises, and whispers lies to us. Just like he whispered to Eve in the garden, “Did God really say that?” (Genesis 3:1).

But, there are many verses in the Bible that aid us in knowing what our defense should be. One thing that I’ve learned is that these ‘what if’ situations that I get my mind worked into are NOT based on truth. They are based on lies and my underlying fears. I remember when JJ was about 8 months old I started taking him for runs at a path that surrounded a lake in Ames. One day this thought popped into my mind: What if that man running towards us trips and knocks me over and causes the stroller to fall into the lake? Yes, this sounds pretty silly doesn’t it? But, this one thought caused me to be fearful every time we approached someone else on the path. I would hold my breath until we were past them. I knew at the time that this thought was irrational and silly, yet, it would always pop into my mind and make my body weak and my palms sweaty.

But, here is the good part. We don’t have to entertain every thought that comes into our mind. We can choose what we will think about and what we won’t. God’s word tells us to “Take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5) We can put a stop to thoughts that are full of lies and exaggerated what ifs. We can take control of our mind. I’ve seen this happen first-hand with Jake and his obsessive compulsive disorder. Before Jake was a believer I had seen him a few times in which his mind had completely gotten him into a state of havoc, and had him paralyzed in fear….literally. Thankfully once Jake become a follower of Christ, God removed almost every single part of this awful disease in his mind. And, what’s left of it, Jake is now able to overcome through God’s wisdom found in his word. Jake can now discern when an obsessive thought has entered his mind, and he can pray it away and choose not to act on it. To Jake, taking his thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ means freedom, in a way that many of us will never understand.

Of course, we don’t have to have OCD to know what it’s like to have a lie floating around in our mind. The challenge is to grab hold of each thought and hold it up against God’s standard found in the first verse – is it true? Noble? Right? Pure? Lovely? Admirable? Excellent? Praiseworthy? If it doesn’t fit, then it’s most likely not something to be dwelling on or becoming fearful about. From here it is then our choice to stop entertaining the thought, pray it away, and move on.

Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.