Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
The scripture above is used many times to denote the fact that a person can achieve good things because Christ gives them the strength to do so. However, when you look at the context, the Apostle was writing this in prison. In earlier verses, he told them to rejoice and not be anxious but think about things that are true, noble, etc., and then in the verse before this, he mentions how he knows how to abound and be abased. He could thrive in both lack and abundance. In this case, he was in a seemingly negative situation while saying he could do all things.
In other words, he was saying: I, Paul, can stay in prison without losing my mind through Christ who strengthens me. So we can also say ‘I can go through trials and difficult times and come out unscathed through Christ who strengthens me’.
This verse of scripture was not meant to just be said when you are looking forward to getting wealth, marriage, and academic success. It also means I can overcome that negative addiction, forgive that person who offended me, and go through that loss, through Christ who strengthens me. We like to pick and choose what we can do through Christ who strengthens us and that doesn’t help.
With this understanding, we can tell that God has a way of escape for us when it comes to dealing with situations that can affect our mental health or the state of our minds. There were great heroes in the Bible who dealt with issues of this nature. They were spiritual and did great things for God but there were times they confronted challenges and it almost messed them up mentally. Moses had anger issues. Elijah at some point prayed to die because he was downcast. Saul was insecure and had self-esteem issues so when David was emerging, he wanted to eliminate him. David also had some insecurities from neglect by his family and it was expressed in having many women. Life’s challenges usually bring out these reactions.
In 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, the Bible says; For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. The strongholds are not necessarily witches and demons. They are thoughts. See the words in bold. The semicolon that comes after the word ‘stronghold’ is used to explain further what the strongholds are. It goes to show that this battle or warfare is in the mind. As a man thinketh so is he.
Whatever we conquer in the mind will become our reality on the outside.
So to prevail over the stronghold, I need to guard my thoughts. Proverbs 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. But before that verse, the preceding verses show us how we can guard our hearts. Verses 20-21 say; My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. Take a look again at the words in bold: Eyes and ears. If you want to overcome wrong thoughts that can lead to depression, moodiness, anger, low self-esteem, fear, loneliness, etc. then you’d have to be mindful of what you watch and listen to.
Some people are currently feeling like failures all because they saw someone’s post on social media. Others think they are ugly because of a picture with so many edits and filters that their favorite celebrity has shared online. You watched a couple online and started feeling lonely and thought you must also get married. Others are spending money they don’t have to impress people who don’t care.
Apart from your associations, another thing to be careful about is what your eyes see and ears hear. These things can affect your emotional health. Your thoughts impact your mood or how you feel. I can remember how I started feeling like I could never be attacked by COVID-19 after listening to a series of messages. But before then, I was so scared because I was feeding on the news media houses were sharing. I even thought as for this pandemic we were all going to die as a result of the descriptions I was listening to.
Another concept that is helpful is prayer. I know people say not everything is about prayer but I had an encounter sometime back that gave me a new understanding. I was really down and felt heartbroken by something I was just told. At the time I heard this information, it was getting closer to my prayer time and I thought, ‘How do I pray in this mood?’ I started praying anyway and because I didn’t have words, I prayed in the Spirit. In the middle of the prayer, the Lord gave me three words and a whole sermon came from those words while I continued to pray. By the time I was done, the depression and sadness just left like nothing happened. Those three words would be an excerpt for another time. Then this scripture now made sense to me. Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. This means worry or anxiety can’t go with peace. One would have to give way. And the moment I start making requests through prayer, peace is the answer God gives. If you have ever felt bold, calm, and peaceful after prayer, you can relate to this.
Going back to thoughts again because this is the major part of the warfare. When the Bible says to pray without ceasing, it also means to think the right thoughts without ceasing because thoughts are also requests or prayers. And we think more than we pray if we want to be honest. Thoughts are running through your mind every second on what to do next. So inasmuch as prayer helps, a person who can work on their thoughts will do better. This is where the knowledge of God’s Word comes in. What do you respond with when the devil brings a wrong thought to your mind?
Did you know that the temptation Jesus faced with the devil was not physical? It was in the mind. The devil brought a thought for him to turn the stone into bread because, after all, He is the Son of God. The devil didn’t take Jesus physically to the top of the mountain, it was happening in the mind. But in all of this, He responded with what was written. This is where meditation on the Word comes in. Not the worldly meditation which means empty your mind of thoughts. No. Godly, biblical meditation means filling your mind with the Word, not emptying it. This explains why there are many distractions to take our minds off the things of God. We can watch series and scroll through social media for hours but the moment you take your Bible or want to pray, you must sleep. Through meditation and the study of the Word, we get a strong conviction and it is that conviction that keeps a person going even though they are going through so many turbulent situations.
The Word In Clarity 