2 Corinthians 10:4-5 “The weapons we fight with are not weapons of this world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ….”
I’ve never really been a claustrophobic person. Over the past few years, however, I have encountered a few situations where the feeling of containment, inability to move, and feeling trapped in a tightly enclosed space with no (perceived) way out was a bit overwhelming.
I recently had to have an MRI on my right shoulder. It wasn’t a big deal to me as I went in. I hadn’t really thought about it much.
When my name was called, I changed clothes and was led into the MRI room. As I laid down onto the table I was instructed to slide my right shoulder into a harness that locked me into position with no ability to move. This was to keep my right shoulder secure to get clear images. I closed my eyes to relax as they prepared the MRI. Headphones had been placed on my head and I was settling in to listen to music I had selected as the machine slowly glided me into the MRI. As I went in I felt my left arm being pushed up against the side of the MRI machine and could begin feeling the constrained surroundings. I still had my eyes closed and was doing fine.
The person managing the machine came over the headset and said “OK, we will need you to stay totally still for the next 30 to 40 minutes. Are you doing OK?” I was about to respond when I opened my eyes. There less that a few inches away from my nose and eyes I see the top of the MRI machine. My breathing begins to shortened and my mind suddenly became flooded with these thoughts that freaked me out a bit. I’d never felt this much anxiety before over something like this. The mind game was on…
“I can do this…no I can’t… think about something else…wide open field….yeah that is it… close your eyes so you won’t have to see where you are….OK they are closed but I still know where I am, I can feel the sides pushing in on me…..that’s it…I’ve got to get out of here!”
I pushed the button and they ended up having to take me out. I eventually made it through the MRI, but had to be given some anxiety medication to make it through. I’ve been told I’m quite a character when I’m on any kind of sedative….but we will save that for another day.
As I have been thinking back over that event and what a wimp I felt like afterward, I started thinking through the mental battle that was being played out in my mind. Thinking about how I allowed myself to listen to the lies that I was generating mentally and how I allowed each of them to be perceived as reality.
The mind is where the biggest spiritual battles in our lives exist. The battle where our thoughts drive us to actions we take. Battles mentally over temptation, anxiety, making decisions about right and wrong. Before every action whether we realize it or not, there is a mental battle that takes place. Left unchecked, our mental thoughts can become strongholds in our lives, paralyzing us, not allowing us to experience the freedom we are meant to have in our life with Christ. We do however have weapons to help us face these mental battles.
In 2 Corinthians 10 we are given some direction into how we can overcome this mine (mind) field. How do we “destroy every argument and pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God”, by “taking captive our thoughts and making them obedient to Christ…”
Here “arguments and pretensions” refer to any thought that is directly in conflict with the characteristics or spirit of God. We are given direction to “take captive every thought that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.” This means recognizing the lies we allow into our minds. Capturing them, identifying them, calling them out. Challenging them and putting them to the test. Asking do these thoughts align with the spirit of God? Do these lies and thoughts I’m having really represent the knowledge and character of God in my life?
In 2 Timothy 1:7 we read “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and self-discipline.”
All of these things that I was feeling during this episode in that MRI machine reflected none of these characteristics. There was a battle going on in my mind. In this situation I lost. I let the lies win.
For instance in my situation with the MRI. I’m feeling timid, is this of God? According to 2 Timothy 1:7 no! The spirit of God is NOT a spirit of timidity. The spirit of God is a spirit of POWER, LOVE, SELF-DISCIPLINE! For me in this situation every one of those thoughts were in direct conflict with each of these characteristics. There was no power or self-discipline.
We make these thoughts “obedient to Christ” by accepting and standing on what we know to be true and not giving into the lies. By not giving into the lies we have identified and exposed within our minds.
Facing temptations, anxieties, fears that have paralyze us in our lives are not easy to overcome. However, if we can recognize the underlying thoughts and lies that are associated with these areas, as we call them out and put them under the lens of the knowledge and spirit of God, we can start recognizing them for what they are. The strongholds begin to weaken. The more we face them the weaker they become. The freedom may not happen immediately, as with my situation with the MRI. But as I continue to argue and challenge those thoughts, choose to stand with the truth, the strongholds will fall.
I love the verse from 2nd timothy 1:7 so much I had it tattoed on my arm!