More times than I like to admit, I let fear get in the way of progress. This fear turns into laziness and laziness soon gets justified by negative, selfish thinking. This progression in the wrong direction is detrimental to my physical, emotional and spiritual health. Romans 3:25 says “God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear.” I don’t have to be scared of the outcome of whatever situation I’m worried about-I’m in the clear, God has it covered.
The prefix “sub” means to get under…submission is to COMMIT to the discretion or decision of another. The term surrender goes even further, to surrender is to yield one’s opinion, meaning we allow our thinking to be changed by the one we commit to. When we call ourselves Christians we are striving toward that commitment of not only following His teachings found in the bible, but we need to surrender our thoughts and our will in order to truly see change in our behavior and thus our lives.
When I allow for morning prayer and meditation time to practice this change, I often think of Philippians chapter 4. Paul reminds us to not fret or worry, but pray. “Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”
My job is to do my best at filling my mind with things that are “true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious-the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.” I tried this last night. It didn’t work. I was trying to force my thoughts to switch from negative to positive and it was not working! I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t recognize any of the promises from God. This morning I realized I forgot one itty bitty major component. In trying to change my thinking to see the positive in my situation, I wasn’t praying. I was trying to force my own thoughts to go in a direction without submitting to God’s discernment or teachings. I wasn’t praying to listen for direction- therefore felt completely directionless. I have spent too many years wandering, you’d think I’d learn my lesson-WE CANNOT GO IT ALONE. Christ-centered in all things means I study the bible, I make sure to have quiet time with God, I practice what He tells me to do by serving in His house, and I spend time developing relationships of a positive nature. Evergreen is beginning their fall session of small groups, join one today, you don’t have to go it alone.