Making Room for God in our Mind

Dwell.  Reside.  Live.  Lodge.  Stay.

The words above describe a settled place, somewhere we have chosen to “hunker down”, a place where we are comfortable and choose to stay awhile, whatever our circumstances may be.   These spaces often help form who we are.  Even though they may not always be our favorite spots.  In fact, we might not like them at times, but for whatever reason, we have made some kind of choice to remain.  Life continues from our dwelling places, and we filter in and filter out the world around us from the perspective they offer.

But these words are true in more than a tangible way.  These words are true of what we do inside our minds.  We make choices everyday of what we will allow in as well as what we remove in order to make room for something else.  We may not have control over what flashes before our eyes or captures our hearing throughout the moments of our days, but we have a choice with what we will allow to remain tucked inside for us to linger in and dwell on later.

Our second phase of this journey is focused on making our minds ready for God.  This seems like a strange statement.  If we are His, then He lives inside us.  He has taken up the residence of our souls.  All of this is correct.  However, if we are constantly wallowing in the garbage, forever “sitting on that fence” that we talked about earlier, the space we allow for Him to be in becomes smaller and smaller.   But this is GOD we are talking about, and He demands all the space.

I think of all the time in my day that I spend obsessing over physical needs.  Am I eating too much?  Have I exercised enough this week? Are my kids healthy?  Are they missing out on something?  I will spend countless hours researching this brand or that style, reading article after article to find the very best plans or advice to aid me in my quest to be the perfect parent, perfect spouse, perfect friend.

While none of these thoughts are bad in and of themselves, how many of my days have been wasted “worrying” over the temporal – the parts that are fading?  Yes, it’s important and even our responsibility to be informed and take good care of the needs of our families and of ourselves.  But am I devoting that much attention to my walk with Christ?  Am I being as intentional in what I allow into my mind as what I allow into my physical body?  Am I making my quiet time of solitude with my Lord as much of a priority as I do my daily work-out schedule?  Because without devoting time to this relationship that has reshaped me and given me life, the world will infiltrate once again.  My flesh will grow bigger and His Spirit dimmed, pushed to the background, so much harder to hear.

The worries of this world are innumerable.   Have I surrendered these areas over to the Lord, and am I trusting Him to work in the details of my day?   When we choose to dwell in worrisome thoughts, they consume us.  This is one of Satan’s most clever ways to draw our vision away from the things of Christ because if he can get us stuck, stressing over the day-to-day, he knows we will never have time to go deeper in our knowledge and understanding of who and how great our mighty God is!  It’s so easy for him – crafty, sly deceiver that he is.  We fail to see this as sin because the world and all its advertisements and articles and media tell us these are the things we need to be thinking about!  But God says in Matthew 6:24-34 to Seek first HIS KINGDOM and HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, and all these things (mentioned in vs 24-32) will be added to you. So, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.

It’s remarkable how God takes all these worries and creates peace when we lay them down before Him.   Psalm 1:1-3 says How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!  But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.  Do you see it?  Do you hear it?  In His law, His Word, he meditates day and night!  This is where peace and security are found, where our spirits can settle.  It is only when we meditate and dwell in His most precious Word that this will happen.  This must take up the space – not the cares of the world.  For those worries will work themselves out.  When we are spending our time and allowing our mind to reside in this book of truth, the worries find answers, the cares turn into wisdom, and we learn to apply scripture to every problem we face.

Today’s Challenge:  Write out the thoughts that most consume you.  What are the areas that take up the most space in your mind?  What troubles do you allow yourself to dwell on? Which frightening scenarios do you constantly come back to?  After you have taken an honest inventory, surrender them to the Lord.  Lay them down, finally – once and for all. 

Verbally confess the worry – the obsessing.  Acknowledge it for what it truly is, a lack of trust in God Almighty.  And be encouraged.  Admitting weakness is a necessary step in true repentance.  Once you’ve written them down, write the words “These worries I am giving to you, God. I am laying claim to 1 Peter 5:7. I am casting my cares on You because You care for me.”  Envision this literally.  Picture your hands placing those worries into the loving, capable, all-powerful hands of your heavenly Father. 

Don’t gloss over today’s challenge.  When these thoughts arise again, maybe in the next ten minutes, remember that you’ve surrendered those cares to God.  You know what they are, and every time they surface, remember that you’ve surrendered them into the hands of our great God.  You don’t need or want to snatch them back.  Acknowledge that He is God, He is big, He is in control, and you are not.  Freedom is found in that kind of surrender.