Religion column: Put all trust in Lord

Have you ever given something to the Lord and then turned right around and took it back? You have given your total being to the Lord, but slowly and surely, a gnawing worry keeps a problem to creep back into your mind.

I have to fight that thought and hold my ground. The enemy would like nothing better than to use my mind for a battleground. I am trusting in the Lord, or I am not. He is Lord of all or he is not. Either I am surrendering all to his keeping or I am going to live out my days in torment, tossing about in a restless sea.

James 1:5, 6, 7, 8 gives me specific instructions for trusting him: "If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask him and he will gladly tell you, for he is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask him; he will not resent it. But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to tell you, for a doubtful mind will be as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind; and every decision you then make will be uncertain, as you turn first this way and then that. If you don't ask with faith, don't expect the Lord to give you any solid answer." (The Living Bible Translation)

This life is a fight of faith. At the onslaught of a troubling thought, I must pull it down. 2 Corinthians 10:5 tells me: "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."

I must be the offender, not the defender. I must be aggressive in my thought life. I am waging a war with the enemy of my soul, but that enemy is no match for God's power. God has given me everything that pertains to life and godliness. I do not wrestle against flesh and blood. The battle is in the mind.

If you wrestle with the enemy in your thought life you must make an effort to stop negative thoughts. The enemy cannot hang around an empowered believer. You do not have to be the victim. You are the victor. Put on the while armor of God.

Portales resident Joan Clayton is a retired teacher and published author. Her e-mail address is: [email protected]