Hypochondria – a lesson from the Wilderness | Temptation 2

So we saw previously that Jesus came against Satan with the Word of God and Satan gave up with that one. He must have given up pretty quickly because scripture changes immediately to his next attempt.
He persisted and took Jesus up to the pinnacle of the temple to tempt Jesus to throw Himself off so God would send angels to catch Him.

‘Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” Matt 4:5-6

Jesus again responded with the Word of God:

“Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.” Matt 4:7.

Note that Satan is making up his own scenario here – a crisis that doesn’t even exist! Look here:
Satan – creates a false scenario to test God that He truly physically protects His children
Jesus – had no need to do what Satan said because He walked in a trusting relationship with God that resulted from obedient service.

If you’re honest, what currently in your life is a made up scenario? Its hypochondria! Deep within we know we don’t have the illnesses we worry about. Actually, any situation that calls for a “what if” question in your mind can be classified as a made up scenario.
So how do we move from freaking out about a scenario that has not happened yet? We call on the name of the Lord. Jesus didn’t have to jump to prove His trust in God; He only had to use the Sword of the Spirit- by declaring and trusting in God’s word.

What prompted Satan to make up a scenario for Jesus anyway? Pride, control, manipulation, deception, not acknowledging God’s authority etc. Think of which issues in your life have prompted the development of hypochondria, this made up scenario. Remember, hypochondria is when the issues we deal with are too stressful that we subconsciously rather think of “the worst possible {made up} scenario”, which is our health. What is pushing you to rather focus on your health?
As we see, Satan waits until you are at your weakest to approach you with all sorts of doubtful questions about yourself, your life and your health. When are your weakest moments? Think of how you have handled anxiety and hypochondria up until now. Line it up with how Jesus handled His weak moments in the Wilderness. How big is the difference and how can you match them up?

Also look how Satan was tempting Jesus to use His own power to sort out His current situation. Turning stones to bread and testing God’s love by throwing Himself off the temple. That’s what he does – he pushes us to do everything in our own power instead of relying on God for the leading and the answers. When we rely on our own strength, we lose.
What are you currently doing in your own power instead of relying on God for? Googling symptoms is obviously one. Think of something personal and stressful you are going through at the moment- how are you taking things into your own hands and where are you leaving God out? Is He leading your day? Are you allowing Him to lead you through the next decision? Or are you making the decisions on your own?

Satan also tries to reinforce our thinking that God is a distant stern old Man very far away who waits in anticipation to strike us down with every mistake we make. He enjoys confusing us about who we are in Christ (‘if You are the Son of God’…) We are sons and daughters of the Living God. We are under a blood covenant so there is no reason to think that His promises and care are for the prettiest or most intelligent. Those promises are for us too! Take hold of them by confessing them into your life daily.
Look up Scripture that declares who you are in Christ and ask the Holy Spirit to make those truths very real to you about who our Daddy really is!

A lesson from David – Part 4

1 Samuel 17

Today concludes the study of the battle between David and Goliath. Part 3 can be found here

Now the battle begins.

“And he drew near the Philistine” (v40): This is what mattered- it would not have helped if David said all these great sounding things but never moved when crunch-time came. David was living James 1:22 by doing the Word and not just hearing it.
What made David have great faith was:
– he spoke truth based on God
– he renounced evil
– he prepared himself for battle (gathered his stones, v40) and importantly
– he did– he physically drew near to Goliath, which is today’s focus

“I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts” (v45). The Hebrew word for hosts is sabaoth, meaning “armies”. God is the Lord over heaven’s armies! David had guts, but he had guts in the Lord, not himself. He knew he had heaven’s army behind him- what a picture! And what a declaration!
He was also careful to acknowledge that the Lord would win, not himself, “the LORD will deliver you into my hand” (v46)
What’s a sure-fire victory? When you genuinely want God to get all the glory! David said, “Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.” (v47)
When little David saw how faithless Israel was, he knew they had to know there was still the God in Israel! He saw that Israel thought God could only save them with earthly weapons, swords and spears, and did not believe that the battle was the Lord’s. This is what David wanted to show them!

So, the battle is God’s, but we’re vessels remember? We have to stand up and fight! Verse 48 says that when Goliath got up and started coming toward David, David “hastened and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine”. David did not sit and think “it’s ok, I can chill because God is going to fight this for me.”
What worries me nowadays is that many Christians say “we’re under grace, we don’t need to do anything, God does it all for us.” God does, and we do it too. We trust God, we rely on Him but then we need to get up and fight back! God would not have given us Jesus’ authority or armour if He did not expect us to actively use it.
I can’t stress enough that you have to be active in fighting off all hypochondriacal and anxious thoughts. Recall my study of Joshua where God instructed him to not only read the word, but speak it (“shall not depart from your mouth”), think about it all the time (“meditate in it day and night”- thinking about God’s word all the time keeps out unwanted thoughts!) as well as DO it (“observe to do according to all that is written”).

Be very careful of having a passive mind and being idle. It’s hypochondria’s friend! If you are at a point right now where you are not working full-time, a student, stay at home mom etc. keep busy with the things of God. If you don’t, all you will do is sit at your pc and Google symptoms. Your health is all you will think about and you will never progress.
This doesn’t mean you have to sit with a Bible in your face 24 hours a day. But in the morning before you start your day, read a short devotional and think how you can apply it to your life. Any worries you have dedicate them to God and ask Him to smooth them out for you for the day. Maybe at lunch time learn a new Scripture that you like; maybe keep a diary and record how God has helped you so far. Get a good Christian book to read if you enjoy reading. Take a short walk and silently talk to God about what fears you have. Maybe pick a cause you care about and actively spend a few minutes a day praying for that cause – ISIS as an example can keep you very busy in that area right now! Praying for others is sowing seeds and you will reap your own reward for it; it also gets your mind off your own issues for a while.
***

• Look at the 4 points that qualified David as having great faith in the beginning of today’s study. Think of an issue you have and how you are handling it- see where/if you match up to those points in the way you are dealing with it.
• David knew that earthly weapons would not win the battle. What earthly weapons are you relying on to get through your trials?
• In what way do you think you could bring God glory through all the anxiety?
• Think about your anxious thoughts and worries individually. Identify areas where you are hastening and running toward your Goliath with God behind you, as well as areas where you may be opting to sit and worry while your Goliath threatens to tear you apart.
  Chop off the head of your enemy (v51) so that it no longer shouts deceptions into your ear!
• If you have any areas where you are predominantly idle, in what godly ways can you keep yourself occupied?