Trading Turmoil for Tranquility

Last week’s blog post may have sounded like the plot from a Sci-fi movie; angels and demons, rolling clouds with clashing in the skies and battles of spiritual forces. The battle is real but what matters more is the battle we fight in our minds. God is completely in control of the spiritual battle among those principalities and rulers of darkness that are spoken of in scripture. We can trust Him to deal with that. But the battle in our minds over sin is where God gives us the choice. This is the part that matters most. Those things that we choose to dwell on in our minds that give birth to sin are the place where God gives us choice and power. This area of the war is what matters most to our everyday lives.

“Our life experiences begin to shape patterns in our minds that control the way we react to life’s situations. The way we react builds patterns that shape our emotions. It is quite easy for human beings to begin to live their lives from emotion instead of principle.” From the book Pursuing Peace

The mental patterns that we develop over time are going to influence deeply the way that we react to situations in life and the way we feel about those situations. Once these patterns go deeply enough to affect our souls they will affect the way we feel from hour-to-hour--whether there is any real situation going on or not. Look at it this way, your emotions and your soul work together. If your soul is at rest then your emotions will be calm and peaceful. You will walk through life with a pleasant mood and your attitude about life will be positive.  However, if your soul is in distress, then your emotions will flail about like a fish out of water. That is no way to live life.

Patterns, patterns, patters. We all have them. Nothing chaps me more than to walk to the coffee maker in the morning and see that it is not ready to give me my morning cup of Joe. But I have a pattern so my coffee gets prepared every evening before I go to bed. That healthy pattern ensures that my  early morning emotions are positive. I get to the coffee pot and it speaks softly to me with words of love and encouragement, “Good morning Jason, it’s going to be a great day, here is your Joe.” I also have another morning pattern. When I get to work, I like to start my morning by gathering my thoughts and organizing my work day. But I have to shut the door to my office to do that. If I don’t, people will start coming in to say “good morning,” to chit chat, to tell me about company problems, etc. I’ll go from bliss to extreme irritation in seconds. I used to forget to shut the door, but I have developed a pattern to make sure I do. The pattern ensures that I keep my soul at rest and my emotions at ease.  

The reverse is also true. If there are things that we do which promote unhealthy emotions then we can develop unhealthy patterns. We create an unseen switch that “sets off” those bad emotions. If I intentionally smash my finger in the door every day then after a week or so my brain will begin to develop an emotional pattern for doors. My heart rate is going to spike and my chest will get tight from the release of stress hormones every time I get around a door. If I do this every morning when I get up then it may start to happen when my alarm goes off. If I do it every evening before bed then I might start having dreams about it. But if I exchange the door with a prayer or a thought about how God’s Word says he has a plan for my life for good and not for evil then my whole pattern becomes a calmer-of-emotions instead of a stress builder.

The mind is powerful. YOUR mind is powerful. It is powerful enough to change the way you first respond to situations in life and ultimately how you feel. God blessed you with a powerful brain and a choice in how to use it. He says that you can be at peace in the midst of crisis. You can be happy in the midst of turmoil. You can have faith in God when all seems lost. To get there, you’ve got to correct your bad patterns with godly patterns. Make a list of those things that quickly make your brain send your emotions downward and start injecting godly things which send your emotions upward. Give some effort to that practice and you’ll begin to see your stress drop and your faith in the Lord increase. And when your soul begins to settle down and get quiet then you will begin to “hear” the Holy Spirit speak to you. That’s when the magic of life begins to happen.

“But I have calmed and quieted myself…” Psalm 131:2 NIV

“Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.”  Psalm 62:5-6  NIV

We are being watched

“A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”   Ephesians 6:10-12 NLT

Do you feel the “weight of sin?” One of my men at work responded to my “good morning” this week in a different way. He opened up to me about his current struggle with sin. The type of sin is irrelevant but the struggle itself is something we can all relate to. He felt as if he was fighting and struggling more than ever with this particular sin and carrying around a heavy load; one that was invisible to the world around him and just plain wearing him out. He was feeling alone, isolated and wondered if he was the only one dealing with this. Au contraire say they French!

 Epouranios is the Greek word used in the above passage. This level of “heavenly places” refers to the air around us; the space between us and the highest sky. We’re talking about clouds here. When you see the sky change above, the clouds begin to roll and become blazed like fire then you’re seeing that heavenly place spoken of here. The Bible says that there is more going on there than meets the eye. There are battles being waged by forces of evil and by platoons of heaven’s angels. This war is being fought not over land or kingdoms we see but over you and me. There are two who lead this fight, God and the Devil. Both want us for their eternal kingdom beyond this life. They fight for each of us and no single person comes at a higher price than the other. In this, we are equal.

 “The Devil is pure evil. There is nothing good about him. None of his purposes are good.” Dr. Charles Stanley (When the Enemy Strikes)

Satan, the Devil, does his fighting in our minds. By the enticing bullets of temptation, he fights your mind and mine to lead us to commit sin against God. That sin, given time, becomes a stronghold in our lives that wears us out. It chokes the spiritual life out of us. In some cases, it will actually kill us. Once we are off this earth physically, our spirit joins one of these two kingdoms forever; Gods or the Devil’s. While we are here, Satan and his demonic forces fight for our hearts. They watch and learn our bad patterns and they try to use them against us. They tempt us in our weak areas and try to break through our armor. But because of the love of our God they must also fight the angles of Christ. This fierce war for mankind is ongoing, around-the-clock and unseen to the naked eye.

“The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”  1 Corinthians 10:13

Even though you may feel alone, as if what you are dealing with is like nothing anyone else is experiencing, rest assured that most of us are fighting similar battles every day. We struggle with our own sins and our own demons; Christian and non-Christian alike. The thing we have to remember is that there is a real war going on around us. We are all a part of that war. We are being fought for. The entire human race is dealing with sin and temptation every day. The true question lies with how we deal with that temptation.  How we deal with it determines whether or not we have peace of mind from day-to-day or whether we feel overcome and weighed down. The Bible says, no matter the detail of the war, we can be at peace on a daily basis. But we have to follow God’s battle plan.

Focus on God this week. Ask Him for a break from Satan’s attacks. Meditate on the goodness of God. In next week’s blog I will discuss ways that bad patterns can be turned into good, how we can break down the strongholds of sin and enter into the peace that God says we can have in the midst of the spiritual war waging around us.

Sunny Situation

 

My oldest son was learning to write poetry this week in school. I was scanning through his great work and came across a short poem focusing on something that I have also noticed myself. My cat Mister (who turns fifteen in three weeks) has a habitual process that he goes through every day. After he has breakfast he stretches out on the rug at the back door. He rests there for a while and soaks up the sun as it shines through the glass. This is what my son’s poem is about. Mister also repeats this process at the end of the day as the setting sun shines through the front door’s glass. He stretches out on the rug at the door and warms himself to the evening sun.

We all have things like this which we do in life. We have patterns we go through. Some of them are good – they relax us, strengthen us, calm our nerves and ease our pains. Other patterns are not so good – they break us down, make us feel bad, make us uneasy about ourselves, push us away from the ones we love and push us away from God. Our Maker knows our patterns better than we do. And He wants us to turn bad patterns into good.

As we work to rectify the bad and bring life’s perspectives into focus, let’s try to remember that even nature works in patterns. If we open our eyes we will see that God has developed patterns all around us. They are there to remind us of the simple things that matter most. He will show us (if we’re looking) how nature uses the small things in life to bring good. Even a little morning sun on the body can warm the soul. Spend some time pondering what your patterns are. Ask yourself which ones bring good to your life and which ones bring bad. Ask God to help you develop healthy patterns. His Word is true and you will find that perfect peace that He freely gives. And when you see His work around you remember to praise Him!

“From the rising of the sun

unto the going down of the same

the Lord's name is to be praised.” Psalm 113:3 KJV

To learn more about brain patterns and how to turn the bad ones around, read my new book Pursuing Peace.