Numbers 16:28 And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind.
“Have you lost your mind?” “What were you thinking?” “That’s insane!” “Get your head on straight.”
Being outside the framework of worldly thinking, followers of Christ are often seen as being duped, deluded, irrational, or just plain stupid. Attacks on our mental state is often the easiest course of action for those who oppose Christ.
The life of faith that we have chosen is one where we seek the mind of Christ. When we do find it, we still have to make a choice. Scoffers often assume that we have no mind of our own. The truth is far from it. To hear, to believe to obey is totally mental. We have not lost our minds we make choices that are based in faith and that is what they do not have.
The world fails to relinquish control. They are the masters of their own destiny. They see us as mindless puppets, controlled by some insane pattern of mass delusion. Yet when they see us act in a way which is totally human in nature they call us hypocrites. All because they have no concept of what faith really is in our lives. They think that faith is a choice.
Faith isn’t a choice, it is a gift from God. Our access into all that faith can do for us is still within our control to make that choice to do of our own mind or His.
Romans 12 (select text) be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Receiving faith does not relieve you of the responsibility of thinking.
Well put!!!
Good morning Larry. I wish to comment on mental stability. Truly there are circumstances that can batter against our senses and eventually erode away our stability. I do not recall, during our high school years, that you were other than “rock solid” in your temperament.
I literally crawled through the “shadow of the valley of death” during my time in Vietnam. For 44 years I suppressed my own actions and the political overtones of those “who know better”. It wasn’t until last Christmas season that I had to, for the first time, meet those challenges … the flashbacks, the emptiness, the feelings of unjust sacrifice, etc. I knew that I was forgiven, but I could not reckon with it within myself.
It was not until I revealed my “closet of demons” to first my immediate family and then to one of my pastor friends. He said to me, “Ern, I can do something the shrink cannot do. I can hug you, pray with you, and take you to the floor, if need be.” We haven’t gone wrestling yet. His best advice was to put on the “whole armor of God”, which I’ve written down and keep in my wallet for frequent reading.
Peculiar, the “armor”. I have to put on “peace” first (my feet) before I can go further with the rest of the armor. The armor of God is required to do battled. The armor provides no defense if you turn your back on your problems.
Mike, my pastor, suggested I play praise and worship music in my bedroom at night. It worked. The nightmares abated. As devoted as I am to classical music, I switched to the recorded “Word”. That is what I do now … all through the night, barely audible … but the darkness that once filled my bedroom at night is now rejected, and my night dreams are pleasant dreams. The battle is not over, for I am still learning to trust the Lord to remove the fear of going to sleep.
So it’s a daily walk, Larry. I wish you well in your walk with God. Thanks for what you’ve shared.
Ern Grover, Harrisonburg, VA