OCD {it’s nasty extremes}

I remember watching a kid’s movie when I was little. One of the characters said to the queen bee, “Too much of a good thing, makes it bad!” Even as a young girl this quote stood out to me.

What’s crazy is, the more I think of OCD, the more I can’t help but see how very true this quote is. You see, OCD often takes something good and causes extremes to get people flustered and confused. Let’s take hand washing for example.

Handwashing after you touch something gross is necessary. Washing your hands over and over again and never feeling clean…that is bad. Making sure the door is locked is good. Standing there staring at it for more than a couple minutes…that is bad. Just a couple seconds ago, I found myself pressing hard down on the phone to make sure it was completely turned off. This unnecessary “ritual” could hurt the shelf it is on. That is bad. There are some little areas in our lives that we might not even really recognize that we do that are extremes.

The thing is, this can become an even bigger issue than we may give it credit for. Pretty soon, these grasps at control can snowball into something much larger and treacherous.

For me, this OCD has hit its full force in terms of my relationship with God. It causes me to question everything. It leaves me seeking for reassurance, and I never get enough. Am I saved? But I sinned? Can Jesus forgive me? Pretty soon, I’m left defeated. I have the nagging sense I’m not forgiven, and I lose my mind. And there’s always something I need to “do.” Something I think God wants me to do. And I’m never at rest.

The thing is, the Bible states clearly: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” ~ James 4:7

There is no doubt that this OCD is completely demonic. God isn’t a God of confusion. He would never put us through something like this. The thing we need to do is catch the enemy in his tricks.

One of his “tricks” is extremes. And if he can get you to fall for this trick of extremes, he’s got you where he wants you.

For example, say you want to say a prayer. You are so earnest that you want to say it “correctly” that you repeat yourself. And then, that time wasn’t good enough so you repeat yourself again. And again. And again. Pretty soon, you’re in trouble because you can’t say an honest, straight-up prayer to God, and then you just stop praying all together. You kinda just give up. The enemy wins.

That’s exactly his strategy. Say you are exhausted with feelings of defeat; the enemy loves this. Pretty soon you think, I can’t take this any longer. Then you turn to something sexual in order to relieve stress. And then, afterwards, you feel even more defeated. Your insecurities rise. And before long, you don’t think God can forgive you. You back away from God. The enemy wins.

We often swing from one extreme to the other. One moment we want to be a really good Christian, so we do everything possible to “do things right.” And then, in the process we lose ourselves. God never intended for such extremes. We are told that the road to God is a very narrow road. It’s Jesus. We can never have enough of Jesus. With Him, our cup can overflow!

However, we need to be vigilant against the enemy. He can let perfectionism get the best of us. He knows we are merely dust. If he can’t get you to go out to the bars, sleep around, or try drugs, then be watchful because he can still be working elsewhere in your life. And, in my experience, it has been with extremes.

The thing about extremes is that it often takes us away from the truth. For example, like I stated above. Washing your hands is good after touching something gross (anyone would say that is true). Now, is washing your hands fifty times good? No, that is false. Do you see how the truth can be thwarted here?

Often, I find myself taking extremes in regards to Scripture. The Word of God is so powerful. It’s my tool against the enemy! What does he (or his demonic forces) do? They often use Scripture to condemn me. Lately, I’ve really struggled with feelings of condemnation. How interesting that the enemy even twisted Scripture when he tried to tempt Jesus. Interestingly though…the devil failed!!

Jesus didn’t fall for that trick. No, He knew the meaning behind the Word. Often, we get so fixated and blinded on the Word of God because we put our own twists on it. If we are afraid of condemnation, we are going to view the Bible in a condemning way. Likewise, if someone doesn’t want to acknowledge their sin, he or she is going to twist Scripture to meet their needs. Instead, we can relax knowing the Word of God is for our good. There is no hidden agenda, and it’s not meant to confuse us. It’s pretty straight-forward. May we have eyes to see it’s true truths!

So, the other day, I came up with this drawing to help demonstrate OCD and the devil’s use of extremes:

It’s not the most beautiful drawing, haha, but it works! Do you see how easy it is to step off the road of Life in Christ? OCD takes all the territory around it. Often times, in the Christian community, I see two things at work: law versus “grace.” The law is good; but it cannot save me. Grace is my lifeline, but it is not a license to sin. So, I’m left with this very, very narrow road where I have to watch myself…I need to keep my eyes on Jesus and not let the enemy mess with me.

Like that cartoon movie I watched states: “too much of a good thing, makes it bad.”

Religious OCD is like that. My faith (which is obviously so important to me and is the only way I can be saved) is good. Me trying to be like God by controlling everything is not good. May we (and I preach to myself) be weary of extremes. May we have sound minds so we can authentically love Jesus and others “extremely” but also wisely.