Anxious thoughts and strongholds – The lies and how to overcome them

The Bible tells us not to be anxious. This seven letter word, what does it really mean? Some equate it to worry or fretting. Some equate it to fear or doubt. It could be something that robs you of peace; something that halts you in your tracks and prevents you from moving forward or taking the next step(s). For faith to exist, there must initially be an element of uncertainty or doubt. Anxiety could then be the feelings you have when you’re unable to control the outcome of a situation or when you struggle to exercise complete faith in God. Anxiety starts in the mind and could exist for legitimate or illegitimate reasons. Whatever it may mean to you, I believe we can at least agree that anxiety is a stronghold, a powerful attack on the human mind that is so negative that God tells us in Philipians 4:6-7: “Do not be anxious or worried about anything…” In this post, I look at the roots of anxiety and how they can become strongholds in our lives, how to take those thoughts captive, how to permanently destroy those thoughts/strongholds, and look at six Bible characters who had anxious thoughts and the lessons we can learn from how they overcame them. Happy reading!

You want to bamba? A God and COVID testimony…

'Detty decemba' they called it. "You want to bamba?" 🕺🏾 was the tune of the moment - a catchy song which came out of nowhere to dominate the Afrobeat genre in late 2021 and compete with Ed Sheeran/Fireboy DML's "Peru" as song of the month world over. You're probably wondering where I'm going with this? Basically, I visited Nigeria in December which is probably the best time of the year to be in Lagos as the city is always so vibrant and full of life. But a week into my trip, the Rona came visiting - it started with a sore throat that fateful morning, subsequent to which I took a lateral flow test which returned positive. I was shocked to say the least. Me, covid? How? 😨 I'd been taking all necessary precautions (or so I thought) - meds, masked up, sanitizing, washing hands etc. But all that didn't matter - I had caught COVID-19. 😭 In my shock I did two more tests that day and over the next two days, all of which returned positive. And that was where my travails began, bringing my holiday to an abrupt end.

God wants to give you “a future and a hope”

Jeremiah 29:11 says God wants to “give us a future and a hope (i.e. an expected end - KJV)”. 🤔💭 Trying to make sense of this I noticed that NKJV/NLT equate KJV’s “expected end” with “a future and a hope”. But why, what could these mean? There is surely an end i.e. a future that God has planned for us, but God gives it to us through hope. The future and hope come hand in hand, like the fist to a glove. It is an end that we actively expect, a future that we hope towards. God gives this hope to us. He puts visions of the future He desires for us into our heart and wants us to hope, long and work towards it. This is corroborated in Phillipians 2:13, which tells us that when we walk with God, the desires of our heart and our resulting actions are of Him. Faith’s definition in itself is substantiated in hope (Heb 11:1).

The greatest military conquest in the Bible

2 Chronicles 14:8-9, 11-13 Zerah, the Ethiopian, stood against God’s people with 1mn men and 300 chariots. Asa, ruler of God’s people in Judah, had an army of 580k men. Despite the massive difference in numbers, God's people (Asa's squad) gained the victory! Perhaps the greater lesson isn’t in the size of the conquest but … Continue reading The greatest military conquest in the Bible