Guard Your Mind

“Even a computer guards itself against viruses, why not you? Guard your mind!” ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

I live in my head. The wheels of my mind are constantly turning as I observe and make mental notes of my surroundings. I have multiple mental tabs open at any given time and I even have a “save to watch later” button that allows me to revisit a line of thought at a more opportune time. When people speak to me, I notice keywords they use and sometimes those words jog memories of clips from movies or song lyrics which then start playing in a muted tab somewhere in the mix. I am constantly writing ideas down and get the most random thoughts at even more random times. I know, very A Beautiful Mind, except with words instead of numbers. I have learned to love this about myself and to stop making excuses for it. I rarely see people while I am driving because I am deep in thought listening to a sermon or a podcast most of the time. When I look at my kids, I see them in the moment and I also imagine them ten years later, I think about all the things I need to do now, to make sure they are ready for then. I have conversation practice runs in the shower because I need to process what I will say ahead of time. Tabs open all at once at any given time. The thing about how we operate is that our enemy studies us. He learns our proclivities, weaknesses and defaults and uses them against us. For me, the attacks always begin in my mind. Over thinking, assuming the motives of others, all-or-nothing thinking, bad self-talk, thoughts of inadequacy and more. I am learning now, as an adult, that the state of my mind informs the state of my life and if I am not vigilant, I will fall prey to the schemes of the devil. What is your modus operandi and how has it been used against you?

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” ~ Philippians 4:7 (ESV)

“The end and culmination of all things is near. Therefore, be sound-minded and self-controlled for the purpose of prayer, staying balanced and focused on the things of God so that your communication will be clear, reasonable, specific and pleasing to Him.” ~ 1 Peter 4:7 (AMP)

As believers in Christ, the everyday battles we face are generated by the schemes of the devil. We can either feign ignorance and take his onslaught laying down, or we can understand his devices and use that information to stand firm. Joyce Meyer said in her book, ‘Battlefield of the Mind,” that a war is raging, and our minds are the battlefield if we can gain control over our minds we will find freedom and peace by recognising damaging thoughts and stopping them from influencing our lives. I don’t know about you but sometimes I think, “Yes, Ms Joyce, that is so true, but how do I actually do the thing?” How do we actually stop the devil from doing his silly little dance on the floor of our minds, raising both dust and hell while he’s at it? Ms Joyce has never given me an answer in my imaginary conversations with her, but my friend and counsellor Holy Spirit has shared some thoughts that I want to share with you. 

Don’t make assumptions

When I was in high school, my class teacher Mr Mwitumwa, wrote the word assume on the blackboard in all caps. He circled the first three letters and then placed a stroke between the letters ‘u’ and ‘m.’ He turned back to the class and said that in his class we are never to assume because when we do, we make an ass out of ourselves (u), and him (me). The whole class erupted in laughter but I’m not so if all my classmates got the lesson. It has never left my mind, especially the visual. To assume is to suppose to be the case, without proof. I may be the only one but when I make assumptions about people, they aren’t exactly veering towards the positive. When we entertain negative assumptions, we create a parallel fictional reality in our minds that influences how we feel and behave. Assumptions damage our capacity to relate to others because we are always assuming we know how others think and feel. This can have a domino effect on our desire to listen and communicate, leaving others feeling like trapped and misunderstood characters in our make-believe world. Our enemy knows that if he can keep us preoccupied with negative assumptions about the people around us, we will be too busy entertaining resistance, blame, anger and resentment to focus on progress, productivity or positivity. Rather than dwelling on negative assumptions about people, live in truth. Let the truth be your anchor to reality, and if there are facts you don’t have, ask.

Let your yes, be yes, and your no, be no,

Jesus had the right idea when He gave us this instruction. I was chatting recently with a dear friend of mine about how lately I have been challenged by the Holy Spirit not to over-explain myself. The old me would desperately look for legitimate reasons why I needed to do something or couldn’t do something so the other person wouldn’t think ill of me. I was sharing an instance where I was unable to make a prior arranged meeting because I had stretched myself too thin and I would not be able to give my best that that meeting. I needed to inform the person of the program change and suggest we reschedule but I began to feel stressed about what I would say to them to let them know. I started to type a text, wracking my brain for what I deemed would be a legitimate excuse to get me off the hook and the holy Spirit gently said to me, “just say that you, unfortunately, need to reschedule.” I stopped and wondered, won’t they want a reason why? The Lord reminded me that I simply needed my yes to be yes and my no to be no, nothing less and nothing more. This is a truth we all need to hang on to. The anxiety and stress we experience because we feel the need to over-explain ourselves is crazy! Yes, the person may be disappointed, but we give a foothold to the devil when we live as though that person is our God. You don’t have to agree to every invitation and then try to come up with a lie as to why you can’t make it because you simply want to stay home and be in your pyjamas all day. Simply let your yes be yes and your no be no and if something comes up that requires you to make a change, do so without adding any salt and pepper to it.

Don’t entertain thoughts that oppose God and what He says about you

The devil is the father of lies. His MO is to introduce thoughts that oppose who God is and also who we are. The minute we fall for his deception, we become powerless because we are stripped of our foundation which is the truth of God’s Word. I have heard it said that every single sin can be traced back to a misconstrued belief we have about God. When we are bombarded with thoughts that shake our belief in God, it inadvertently shakes our identity which causes us to fall. In Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth he uses the phrase ‘exalts itself” when he refers to thoughts the enemy tries to bait us with. Satan has always been after glory for himself, so much so that even the lies he tells seek to exalt themselves above the knowledge of God. In the same way that Satan has mastered how we operate, we must study his patterns too, recognising that his motive is to shake our core and throw us off, then our response should be a firm hard pass. The only way to counter Satan’s lies is with the truth of God’s Word which brings me to my last point.

Be grounded in God’s Word

Jesus demonstrated how to navigate battle with the enemy. He replaced hand-to-hand combat with truth-to-lie combat, using the simple but powerful word of God to extinguish the fiery lies of the devil. We cannot win the battlefield of our minds if we are weaponless and we can’t exactly crack open the Bible, clumsily cramming while were being attacked! God’s Word is a mirror. We can’t go into battle without looking in the mirror. Every warrior must put on armour and look into the mirror to make sure everything is in place. Like our daily food, let’s eat the Word, like a sword, let’s keep it sharp in our hearts at all times, and practice how to use it by letting it roll off our tongues often. Then and only then will we have a winning edge over the devil. You see, he is a defeated foe already and the only thing keeping him close by is his hope that we will fall asleep at the wheel and lose hold of the victory Jesus died to give us. Let’s not give him the satisfaction!

Guard your peace of mind by freeing yourself of unnecessary drama. Remember that a free mind leaves room for prayer and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. As an overflow of this peace of mind, our relationship with ourselves and others will flourish allowing God and God alone to be exalted.