Set Your Mind – Part 3

The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; Romans 8:6

Once you give in to ‘stinking thinking’, your mood dips, you lose energy, God seems distant, prayer seems pointless, sin looks tempting, and your outlook in life becomes bleak. When that happens you become so focused on how you feel, you don’t realize it’s your thinking that’s causing you to feel that way. It happens to the best of us. Look at Elijah the prophet. The high point in his career was when he called down fire from heaven and defeated the prophets of Baal. It was a World Cup-sized victory! Then word came from Queen Jezebel: ‘You killed my prophets. Well, guess what? Now I’m going to kill you’ (see 1 Kings 19). As a result Elijah plunged headlong into fear. He felt worthless: ‘I am no better than my ancestors’ (v. 4). Hopeless: ‘[He] ran for his life’ (v. 3). Isolated: ‘I am the only one left’ (v. 10). Unable to cope: ‘I have had enough’ (v. 4). He wanted to die: ‘Take my life’ (v. 4). So how did God respond to Elijah? In four simple ways: 1) He helped him to start eating right and get proper rest. 2) He spoke to him in ‘a still small voice’ (v. 12), reassuring him and giving him courage. 3) He assured Elijah that he was not alone: ‘I have…seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal’ (v. 18). 4) He gave him another mission to fulfill. There will always be a ‘Jezebel’ threatening to undo your best efforts and bring you down. The key is learning to control your thinking!

Prayer
Heavenly Father, do not let fear change my thinking and stop me from focusing on You for my strength and success. In Jesus’ Name, Amen