Battlefield of the Mind

There’s no way I’ll survive this!

Remember when you said that?

The battlefield of the mind was filled with the carnage of broken dreams, empty promises, and public failure. You couldn’t buy a single vowel to spell “hope”. Every 2 steps you took were perfectly matched with 5 steps backward.

Eventually, your time on the clock ran out, only after your best attempt at an alley-oop fell short like all the others. Amazing how everyone including you forgot:

God specializes in overtime victories
for the underdog!

Thank God for the technicality of Jesus Christ, who holds the keys to death, hell, and the grave (Revelation 1:18).  Christ gives us the will and determination to never give up, in, or out!

You Won a Life War!

God be praised! You stand victorious after a Life War – a season in your life where the struggle was real, all hell broke loose, and you perceived your circumstances as hopeless at best – that is, before you shook up the world as the Victor!

But, here’s something I’ve learned about winning a Life War and making your way home: If you’re not careful, the War you so strategically won will come home with you, take a seat next to you on the sofa, and look at you like, “What?”

Triggers. Flashbacks. Nightmares. Panic Attacks.

All of these remnants of War can make you feel like you’re still in Vietnam when you won the War years ago.

Sure, we’ve all got a heavy gold medal around our necks, and pieces of confetti stuck in our hair from the victory parade. But, if someone were to peel back the layers of our success, pearly white smiles, perfect families, fine possessions, grandiose titles, and mega-friends list – what would they find?

A Winning, Wounded Warrior.

We take many blows in the Wars of Life. Aside from physical abuse, most of the jabs, right hooks, and bombs are absorbed by our hearts and our mind. And, the mind IS the ultimate battlefield, and our enemy knows it!

Let’s be honest with ourselves: Did we win the battle, but our minds are still Prisoners of War (POWs)?

Here’s how to put down your rifle, take off your uniform, and wash the camouflage paint off your face.

War vs. Peace Mindsets

If you can identify and want to finally stop warring within yourself, here are 3 mindsets you must leave behind and replace with God’s view of your victory:

1.  “I am still at War!” vs. “The War is over, and I can rest now.”

You can take the Warrior out of the War, but sometimes it takes a little work and time to take the War out of the Warrior. Dragging the War around with you everywhere, especially to new opportunities for peace and blessings, is a self-sabotaging habit!

Forget those things which are behind you (Philippians 3:13). Give your new relationship, job, city, surroundings a fighting chance by pressing forward and leaving the old War in the past.

2.  “The enemy is everywhere!” vs. “I am safe where I am now.”

When you were in the War, you couldn’t trust anybody or anything – sometimes, not even yourself! Perhaps you relaxed your guard during the War and ended up in a minefield – now you feel there are always secret bombs everywhere!

Relax your mind, Team! Truly winning the Life War includes winning your freedom from paranoia! Not everyone’s out to get you; everything doesn’t have to be a trick or conspiracy. Don’t miss out on God’s new good thing by always expecting the worse. Seek God’s clarity and His plans, which are never crafted to harm you, but to give you a hopeful future (Jeremiah 29:11).

3.  “I will never forgive the enemy!” vs. “It is always in my best interest to sign a Peace Treaty.”

Winning a Life War often depends on the outcome of the Battle of Forgiveness. This holds true whether the struggle is to forgive yourself or someone else.

It’s hard to fight and love at the same time. Love is the usher that shows forgiveness to its proper seat in our hearts. But, love is often a casualty of war if we don’t wash our wounds in the blood of Jesus.

Our hunger for inner and outer peace will always be fed when we surrender our desire for punishment, revenge, and perpetual retaliation to God.  A truly free Warrior has freed the enemy within and without with forgiveness.

So, What’s the Play Call?

After you walk away from the War with your win, be sure to wash the War off.  Please don’t carry the War around in your mind.

It’s okay to honor your scars and tell others your story of survival and victory. And, don’t be ashamed of your limp – a limp simply means you had the guts to get back up, and you’re on your way to healing.

But, do not neglect to heal your heart, soul, and mind once you’ve won the War…or think you have. There may be one final battle to go, one that is won not through resistance, but reliance on God’s love to heal and restore.

Then, and only then, will you not only win – you’ll TRIUMPH!

Have you been going through life as a winning – but wounded – warrior?