What is at the Root of Obsessive/Compulsive Thinking?

“I am sick, and I will never get better. My life has no hope.”
“What if I die young and never get to see my children grow up?”
“I made a mistake, so now I am condemned to the consequences.”

The lie at the root of your fear is now an idol driving obsessive/compulsive thinking.

There is a lot to that statement, so let’s break it down.

At the root of obsessive/compulsive thinking is a lie.  Something you have agreed to that does not line up with the truth of God’s word.  The facts of your current circumstance are not the defining truth for your future. Demons use facts to magnify an anthill until it looks like a mountain.  It is the nature of these devils to lie.  Anything you let consume your thoughts obsessively is an idol keeping you from God.  Let me give you an example

A Client Story

A client told me she had to go back to the doctor due to something seen on her mammogram.  Her mother died of breast cancer.  That reality was all the enemy needed to convince her she was under a generational curse, and she was dying.  Thoughts of death swirled in her head daily until she came to my office saying, “It’s time for me to die.  My life is over.”

That may seem like an extreme conclusion, but the “what if” worrier runs way ahead of God.  Worry takes you out from your umbrella of grace given for today. Instead, it clobbers you with scary scenarios of your future. Grace is like manna; you only get enough for today.

Let’s go back to my original statement: the lie at the root of your fear is now an idol driving obsessive/compulsive thinking.  People don’t think of infirmity as an idol, but it has a loud voice.  Pain screams over the truth of your healing.  Dread that accompanies sickness brings hopelessness and wants you to fall into apathy, so you give up like my client. Demons network to kill, steal and destroy.

A spirit of legalism is the golden child demons use to bring in self condemnation.  They remind you this problem began with a mistake you made.  They convince you it’s all your fault, and now you are condemned with no way out, but God is a deliverer.  He never abandons his children.  He knows the plans he has for you, and there is hope for your future. (Jer. 29:11)

Idols cause you to rehearse the lies until they become your truth.  It is a process of deception that demons employ to get you to disagree with God’s word.

You can’t drink from the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You can’t feast at the table of the Lord and feast at the table of demons. (1 Cor. 10:21 TPT)

The word “feast” in this passage also means to participate, which is the Greek word metaecho, or to “echo with.”  In other words, you can’t feast at the table of the Lord in Psalm 23 with your head anointed with oil and your cup of joy running over if you repeat the lies of the enemy.

That kind of repetition makes you the feast of demons who use sharp steak knives of anxiety, dread, and self-condemnation to chew on you.