Re-Mind

When I was a little kid, I used to be terrified that carnivorous animals would escape from the zoo and eat my family while we were asleep. I would lie in bed and think about this with my covers pulled completely over my head, sweating it out (it was Mississippi, after all) and breathing through a tiny air hole that I formed in the blanket.

Obviously I knew how stupid this was, even as a seven-year-old; I mean, on the off chance that tigers and lions did escape from the zoo, they were unlikely to hike the 5.6 miles to our house, somehow break in the window, and eat us when there were plenty of other tasty cats, dogs, and Mississippi wildlife in between.

I knew that it was crazy, yet I still lay perfectly still, without a sound, as I tried to fall asleep some nights, my imagination running wild.

We all know the verse: ...for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7).

Let's look at it in the Amplified Bible: For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.

Boy, is that a mouthful.

When I first started this blog, I wrote a post about this very verse. But now I want to elaborate even more.

Paul assures Timothy that fear is not from God. It's a gag gift from the devil. On the outside, it looks nicely wrapped with a bow on top, but when you rip off the paper, it's really not what you wanted at all. But this verse goes even deeper than that, because Paul is defining what fear is not. I think it's interesting the things that are listed in opposition to fear in this verse.

Fear is not power, love, or a sound mind. In fact, where those things exist, fear flees.

It's obvious that if you see the power of God visually displayed (like watching someone healed before your eyes, for example), you're going to lose a lot of fear. And it's amazing how being fully assured of someone's love really takes the edge off of insecurity. How much more so a revelation of the totality and purity of the love of the Father, the Creator of the universe?

But when you combine power and love, you get the third element here: a sound mind. (Clearly not what I possessed when I was cowering under the sheets as a kid.)

Fear is the opposite of "a sound mind." Hm.

We could take apart every element of a "sound mind" listed in the Amplified Bible and then spin out on a "self-control" tangent, but let's keep it simple. Think about a "sound mind" in terms of being "level-headed" and "disciplined." Then consider what the world calls "a sound mind, level-headed, disciplined"...or at least, the American middle class.

We would say financial security, a 401k, a house with two and a half baths, and the respect of a community are "sound" pursuits. "Look before you leap," we would say. "Don't take risks," we would say. "Are you really going to do that?" we would ask. All of our advertisements hook us by selling us comfort and security. I'm sure those of us who are concerned about breaking-and-entering zoo animals are much comforted by ADT ads. We spend our time pursuing what the world calls "good" and what looks to us like it is secure. Every day, we are afraid that these things will suddenly disappear, and we work hard to keep them in our possession (which is what we consider "discipline").

We call it all kinds of things: "Practicality," "being responsible," "providing for your future," "keeping yourself safe." The truth of the matter is that all of these are nicknames for humanity's closest friend, Mr. Fear.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with a 401k. (To be honest, I don't really know what a 401k is, but I know lots of people have them.) And I believe in planning for the future. But I also believe in hoping for the future. And if your future is in your 401k, then you're not really hoping in much, are you? I want my hope to be eternal, the steadfast anchor of my soul (Hebrews 6:19). If you're anchored by your financial stability, your house, a relationship...your anchor is not steadfast. It's not going to hold.

Your mind is not sound, because you are motivated by security in the temporal, not security in the eternal.

We've all heard this idea put this way: "Well, you have to hold on to Jesus, because what if there's a flood or you go bankrupt? He's going to be all you have left." We think of our earthly possessions with a loss mentality. We think of Jesus as backup for our earthly security--just another insurance policy. Insurance is about loss.

But I think God wants us to have a gain mentality when it comes to our relationship with Christ.

Paul said, "I count every [earthly] thing as loss" (Philippians 3:8)--not because it was literally lost, or because he expected it to be, but because his mind was focused on "the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ." Jesus isn't "all we have left."  He is the beginning and end of what we have. (Or haven't you read Revelation?)

You see, God doesn't want you to put your hope in Him because He is going to destroy your house in a flood or cause you to go bankrupt. He wants you to have your hope in Him, in spite of how materially blessed you are, because He wants to give you so much more spiritually than you have in the natural.

(I wrote another post about hope a few months ago. Yes, I realize how pretentious it is to cross-reference yourself more than once in your own blog. Jesus is laughing at me right now, since initially I balked at the idea of blogging because it was for "pretentious people.")

Fear is negative hope. It's "I hope this doesn't happen," rather than "I know God's heart toward me is so good that I am going to step out and do this crazy thing, because He won't let me fall."

The reason I know this is because I've experienced this type of rational-irrational fear. For example, sometimes I will catch myself being afraid to check the mail in case there is bad news, a bill, some type of letter saying I've committed some type of traffic violation I wasn't even aware existed. Silly, right? As children of God, we have the divine privilege to expect good news, because that's our reality. I'm not saying we never get a bill, but to be terrified of checking the mail just because we have wild imaginations is ridiculous. As a child of God, I am more likely to find $150 worth of anonymously-sent gift cards (true story) than a citation for accidentally breaking a rule I didn't even know about (which has never happened).

Whenever I get that ridiculous, sudden hiding-under-the-covers terror--of anything--I have to remind myself of who I am in Christ. I have to return that gag gift to the devil, because the joke's on him: in Christ, I'm forever totally fearless.

Don't focus on the fear of losing your reputation or your stuff. Your stuff earthly life isn't your backup for your heavenly life. Jesus is Plan A. There is no Plan B. Catching hold of this revelation is what having a "sound mind" is. It's seeing your life in terms of the supernatural rather than the natural.

I'm not saying everyone needs to sell all they own today, move to a foreign country, and adopt a bunch of orphans. (Although there are many people who have done that completely in faith at God's word.) I'm just suggesting that you examine your attitude. If God tells you to do something, to give something away, you must be ready to do it immediately, knowing He's going to care for you much better than you could. If He asks you to go somewhere dangerous, know that you are doubly and triply protected because He's the one sending you there...after all, He is the Lord of Hosts. (And from what I hear about warrior angels, I don't want to mess with them.) If He asks you to take a risk--even if it involves possible or even certain loss of earthly security--know deep in your heart that it will be a risk well worth taking. Be eager to follow after Him, because I promise you, you will be much better off if you do.

Why can believers have a "sound mind" even in the scariest of circumstances? Because we aren't looking with human eyes, beloved. We are looking with heavenly perspective.

Do you know where Jesus was when His disciples were freaking out about a storm going on all around them? He was asleep, my friend, in the bottom of the boat (Mark 4:38). This was a small enough boat that water was probably splashing all over His face; but He knew, "Hey, I can rest easy. My dad has got this."

We as believers aren't just getting saved and then hiding out in a bunker, waiting to die and go to heaven. Additionally, we aren't chumming it up with Jesus in the hopes that He will glance our way when something bad happens to us. We are not meant to try to understand the supernatural through the natural; we are meant to do the opposite. We are meant to see heaven on earth. What's more, we're meant to bring it here. That was kind of the point all along. Instead of allowing Adam to stay in the Garden, God reversed the whole sin problem so that the Garden could extend all over the earth.

You live in the Garden, and the Garden lives inside of you...because the Garden is Jesus Christ.

The fact is, God can see to your needs way way WAY better than you can. Trust me. He's got a plan for you, if you'd only just let Him do it....but more on that in my next blog.

I think a biblical "sound mind" is the opposite of everything the world would say it is. It's being completely fearless to seek after all that God has for you.

If you don't have a close relationship with the Holy Spirit, this probably sounds completely foreign to you. And for those people, maybe that is the fear you have to overcome first. You don't need a mediator anymore, some other person who tells you what the Lord says--Jesus did away with that when He ripped the temple to the Holy of Holies in two (Matthew 27:51). I would encourage you to risk seeking intimacy with the Lord through the Holy Spirit. Listen to what He wants to tell you, even if you are afraid of being "that crazy person who thinks she hears from God." (The author of this blog was once afraid of the exact same thing.)

Then, even crazier: when He tells you to do something, do it.

The fact is, even if you don't feel like you hear from the Lord, He still tells us in the Bible to do crazy things. So if you believe the Bible, then you're already being challenged to live a fearless lifestyle, nothing short of crazy. (Go read Acts if you don't believe me.) The faith examples given in Hebrews 11 are Abraham, Sarah, and Moses--all of whom had great power, authority, and blessing in spite of their own failures...but none of whom were exactly considered "sane" by their friends and relatives. If you really follow the Word of God, the world will say, "Wow, that person really has an unsound mind." (Or, in colloquial terms, "That girl cray-cray!")

Really, you have no excuse for being boring, because you're not in your born-again spirit! If you are, then you're just pretending. Time for your cover to get blown and for you to embrace the crazy adventure God designed specifically for you.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of  your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:1-2).

Man. I know your eyeballs are already hurting, so I won't unpack that verse like I want to. But notice this: the "sacrifice" here is giving up thinking in the flesh. Your flesh, in fact, is "holy and acceptable to God," because Jesus made it that way--and that includes all your stuff as well as your body. Present your security in the earthly realm to God, who is the only one who can actually make your earthly life secure. And then renew your mind, which means simply this: to see the heavenly realm in the natural. To see that YOU are His will in Christ Jesus. To see that, in His Son, YOU are "good and acceptable and perfect."

To renew your mind is to feed on Scripture and know who you are, then make every decision based on that and NOT on fear. THAT'S a sound mind.

(Whew, finally got to my point. I know you're relieved, ten pages later.)

Ironically, when I was a kid hiding under the covers, I had security. My parents were in the very next room. My house was secure (along with the gates of the zoo, I am sure). I was protected. I just didn't believe it.

I really think that when we consider the greatness of our God, all of our fears are actually that illegitimate. And, just as I was never scared during the day when I was actually playing outside, vulnerable to lions, I consider that the fear of earthly loss is completely silly when revealed in the light of the Bright and Morning Star, Jesus. So renew your mind with that. Take on that new mentality. Re-mind yourself, if you will. You'll see with heavenly eyes, and you'll never look back.