Taking Every Thought Captive: Anxiety, Worry, and Fear
Around ten years ago I moved to Rochester, Minnesota. At that time I didn’t know anybody that lived there so I started to ride my bike every night after work. I really enjoyed this because I could listen to podcasts or music and spend time thinking. One particular ride is vivid for me because I was reminded of past sin in my life. I felt like there was no way God could love me because of who I was without Christ. I was running through all the “what if” questions in my mind. What if people find out who I really am? What if people want to get revenge for past wrongs? What if God doesn’t really love me? It was question after question that led me further and further away from God’s word. These “what if” questions had taken my mind captive. I felt like I had nowhere to go. Eventually I had to stop my bike on the side of the trail because I was paralyzed with fear. I even remember praying in that moment. I would like to say this helped and the peace of God surpassed all understanding, but it didn’t. I rode home in fear continuing down the path of all the “what if” questions.
Maybe you can relate to my story because you feel anxious. You may have deep rooted fears like mine that erupt with worry and anxiety. The last year may have taken its toll on you. Covid and the election season has caused all the “what if” questions to swirl through your mind. The thought of getting Covid paralyzes you. The election continues to weigh you down because you don’t know what is going to happen in the future. The question we need to ask ourselves is how do we overcome anxiety?
Paul in 2 Corinthians 10:1-6 is helpful in thinking about this. 2 Corinthians 1-9 has a compassionate and loving tone towards the Corinthian church. Now there is a shift in tone. He goes from compassion to correction. Paul was humble with them last time they were face to face but next time he comes he’s going to be bold if they don’t change (1-3). Paul uses war language when talking to the Corinthians. He says, I am coming with weapons and not just any weapons but weapons of divine power (4). These weapons are used to destroy strongholds (5a). These strongholds are worldly arguments that are “raised against the knowledge of God (5b).” After destroying the arguments, he is going to take captive the minds of people so that they obey Christ (5c). Those who resist will be punished when he comes (6).
The primary application of these is how we interact with the world and culture around us. We go to war not with our own wisdom but God’s word. A secondary application is we go to war with our own mind so we “can take it captive and make it obey Christ.” We have control over our body, and this includes our mind.
We have the weapons of divine power! What is this weapon? It is the Word of God. We are talking about spiritual warfare and our offensive weapon in the fight is the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God (Eph. 6: 17). This is the primary way we can destroy the stronghold of anxiety in our mind! Psychology and secular counseling may give you helpful tips on how to fight or how to manage anxiety but it’s not enough. A quick google search on how to fight anxiety tells people to take a time out, limit alcohol and caffeine, take deep breaths, count slowly, and do your best. This is not the whole list and some tips are better than others but none will be effective in the fight. It is like bringing a BB gun to go elephant hunting. Good luck! Bring the word of God to your fight! It is like bringing a bazooka to the fight. It will help you destroy the stronghold in your life.
My analogy makes it seem like it is easy to kill the elephant and that is also not true. It takes hard work to take our minds captive. This is also not a trite application of scripture. This is mining the scriptures for the gold that is in there. God says it is our primary weapon in the battle for our mind. This includes the battle of anxiety, worry, and fear.
How do we take our mind captive and make it obey Christ? Philippians 4:8 is a great verse to memorize and put into practice. It says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
Think about the things listed in this verse! We need to refocus our mind away from the thing causing fear to something that is true or something that is lovely. Let’s take a practical example. You are worried that you are going to get covid. How do you redirect that thought? Meditate on something that is true. Go back to Phil. 3:20. My citizenship is in heaven and I am waiting for my Savior. How does that affect how I think abut getting sick? What does that mean? How do that affect my life now? That is just one verse. You can bring in many more verses for what is true.
Make a 3×5 notecard for each word or phrase in 4:8 (True, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise).
Then write down 5-10 things that corresponds to each word. These things can be a mixture of truths about God and things you find in creation. When your mind runs to the thing that causes worry you can use your cards to refocus your mind to something else.
This works with things other than anxiety. What is taking your mind captive? Is it anger, lust, jealousy, envy, or things like these? Take your mind captive and refocus it on something else. This is a constant fight until the day that we die or Christ returns. Don’t get discouraged when you fail. Get back up and keep fighting for your mind. There is a truth in Phil. 4:9. Practice these things and the God of peace will be with you.
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John MacArthur Sermon, Winning the Spiritual War Part 2, 2 Cor. 10:3-6