You Only Get One
I ran into an old foe last week. This old foe popped up one day last week and tried to weasel its way right back into my life. I wasn’t about to let that happen, so I reached out to a couple of friends and asked for some prayer. This old foe of mine was relentless and continued to fight for my attention day in and day out. Each time it popped up in my face, I went to God in prayer. I was praying near constantly the whole time thinking that I was being a good little Christian and praying without ceasing like the Bible tells me to.
Then God stepped in and showed me how wrong I was.
If I was a betting woman, I would bet that many of you share this same old foe of mine with me. I would also bet that this same old foe tends to show up a lot this time of year for you too. This foe that I am talking about is anxiety, and I used to struggle with it badly years ago. I kicked anxiety to the curb a long time ago, so when it popped up last week I was determined that I would do whatever it took to prevent it from taking up residence in my life again.
Like I said earlier, once anxiety reared its ugly head in my life again, I went straight to God with it. Every time it came up, I started praying. I prayed, and I prayed, and I prayed some more. I was really proud of myself for “praying without ceasing." I thought I was doing so well. The thing is, no matter how hard I prayed, the anxiety kept popping up again later. I couldn’t figure it out, and I was getting really frustrated.
One morning I was re-reading “The Deep Place Where Nobody Goes” (I seriously can’t recommend this book enough), and God made me realize that what I thought had been prayer without ceasing was in fact a successful attempt by the enemy to distract me and take my focus off of God and place it on the fear that he had placed in front of me. The fear behind this anxiety had completely taken over my life. I was obsessed and let it take over my thoughts multiple times a day. The anxiety was even waking me up in the middle of the night. It had gotten out of control, and God was letting me know it.
I was directed to Joshua 6 and the story of the fall of Jericho. God gave Joshua specific instructions concerning taking Jericho. God said to march around the city one time a day for six days. One time. That’s it. God was giving me the same message that He had given to Jill Briscoe in her book. He was asking me to march around this giant city of fear that was fighting for my attention one time a day and then trust Him with it and move on for the day. Not only was I supposed to only circle it one time a day, I was also supposed to ask Him to take it from me for the day after I had already circled it in prayer. This was going to be interesting…
Turns out, God knew exactly what I needed…go figure. The next day I got up, circled my Jericho one time, and then asked God to take it from me for the day. To my surprise, it worked. I did not think about that fear or experience any anxiety for the rest of the day. I did the same thing the next day and the next, and by the fourth day, I almost forgot to circle my Jericho at all. God had conquered my Jericho for me, and He did it in less than a week.
Whatever your Jericho is, God can conquer it for you too. Whatever it is that is causing you anxiety and fear, God can conquer it for you…and He can do it in less than a week. Don’t let that thing take over your life. Don’t let that old foe steal your attention away and shift your focus off of God. Give it to Him. Circle your Jericho one time a day and then ask God to take it from you for the day and move on. You were not created to live in fear. You were not created to live in the shackles of anxiety. You were created to live with your focus on God and God alone. If you are living any other way, it is time for a change. And what better time to change your ways than at New Years?