“All the days of the desponding and afflicted are made evil [by anxious thoughts and forebodings], but he who has a glad heart has a continual feast [regardless of circumstances].” Proverbs 15:15
Not long after I lost my job, I began to see detailed images in my mind of my family and I moving our belongs out of our house and into the street with nowhere to go. Fear, anxiety, and dread clenched my soul and an atmosphere of oppression hung over me.
One day, during one of these occurrences, the Lord spoke and said I was entertaining evil forebodings. What is an evil foreboding? The dictionary defines it as the “feeling of impending evil, disaster or misfortune is going to happen”.
Forebodings are a constant irritation- the dripping sound of what if’s and the dread of… waiting. It’s a subtle presence hovering over you.
“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”2 Corinthians 10:4-5
Once I understood what was going on, I knew what God wanted me to do- stand up and fight the enemy with His Word! And be joyful because I already had the victory!
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;…” 2 Corinthians 10:4
I rose up and wielded the sword of the Spirit with my mouth using God’s Word (Ephesians 6:17) and took authority in Jesus’ name (Luke 10:19). I fought the battle in my mind where the stronghold had invaded. I had to think about what I was thinking about and what I was entertaining in my head. I was on guard at all times (1Peter 5:8). The devil was relentless, but so was I, for “Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world.”! (1John 4:4) And “If God is for me, who can be against me?”(Romans 8:31)
The name of Jesus is a strong tower higher than any stronghold the enemy can erect in our minds. When we cast down those things in our mind that is contrary to God’s Word, we become a powerful force against the enemy. Speaking God’s truth guards our soul against the enemies lies.
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Romans 8:37
God fights our battles for us (2 Chronicles 20:15), but we are required to put on the armor of God to fight the good fight of faith if we are going to overcome our enemy in this life (Ephesians 6:10-18).
We must fight to believe. Satan is a master at making things appear as they are not. His tactics are to conquer and divide our hearts and lives from God. He will incite fear and anxiety to subdue us into unbelief.
God revealed to me He already had our house situation taken care of and to not be afraid- all we had to do was BELIEVE and fight to continue to believe in spite of what it looked like in the natural. God kept His promise, we kept our house, and our enemy was utterly defeated before us. More than that, God went above and beyond what we anticipated in the circumstance for “…in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” ( Romans 8:28) and, “He prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies.” (Psalm 23:5)
We must guard our minds against evil forebodings by aligning our thinking with God’s Word. We must think about what we are thinking about. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will put them to flight.”(Isaiah 59:19) Be joyful- God will not fail us. We are overcomers in Him if we will not give up!
What evil forebodings is the enemy dropping into your head? You can defeat him through the Word of God today.
“I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.” Mark Twain
