As we move through our day-to-day lives, we’re occupied with whatever life throws at us. Whether it’s work, recreation, worship, or family, some of us wear all the different hats and seem to do so effortlessly. The people we know and love expect certain things from us, and we’ve learned over time to meet their expectations. We’re doing our thing, at least that’s what it looks like from the outside. On the inside, we’re hiding away. No one sees the pain, hurt, heartbreak, and disappointment we’re wading through. That heaviness meets us when we open our eyes in the morning, and sometimes it lies down with us when we go to bed at night, but we do our best to power through it. We put on whatever face we need to in order to move throughout the day. At some point though, we will get weary and hiding behind the person we’re pretending to be simply isn’t going to work.
God commands us in Ephesians 4:23 to be renewed in the spirit of our minds, but some of us are behaving as if we don’t even know what that means, and we may not. To renew is to make new again. Our minds have been around for as long as we have, and through our experiences, encounters, and situations, our minds have been trained to think a certain way.
Proverbs 23:7(NASB95) tells us, “For as he thinks within himself, so he is.” Many of us never ponder this. We don’t recognize that we’ve developed a way of thinking that doesn’t set us up for success and fulfillment, but just the opposite. We don’t connect the dots between how we think and the outcomes we receive in life, but we must wake up to the truth of this connection and let it cause us to make a very necessary shift. Wrong thoughts are almost always at the root of emotional unhappiness and distress. God’s Word teaches us in Philippians 2:5(NKJV), “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” God tells us in this verse to put on the mind of Christ, and as His children, we must understand that this is part of the spiritual work we’re to do while we’re in the earth.
Some people will say, “I know that’s what God says, but my mind wonders. Sometimes, it’s all over the place.” This is often the result of constantly indulging worldly influences and media. It’s possible that we allow that stuff to overpower us because we’re not putting enough of the Word in our minds. This has to change. Romans 10:17(NKJV) tells us, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Faith in God is everything to the believer. 1John 5:4 tells us that every follower of Christ overcomes this evil world through our faith. So, when we are not allowing ourselves to be supercharged and nourished by the Word but giving the bulk of our time to other things, we’re denying ourselves the privilege and benefits that come with renewing our minds.
Our minds were not created to be undisciplined and unruly. We’re to take authority in Christ. 2Corinthians 10:5(NASB95) affirms, “[We are] destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and [we are] taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” This is what we are called to do. It’s not a suggestion, it’s a directive. When we know the Word of God, we DESTROY everything that tries to put itself up against the knowledge of God and His Word. We demolish those thoughts. We hold them in prison and make them obey Christ. So, we can’t hide behind words like, “I can’t…it’s too hard, or it’s not going to work.” Those are not words of truth, and we shouldn’t use them as an excuse not to do as God commands.
It’s arrogant to think that our way will work better than God’s way. Our way is sometimes to give up and not fight the good fight of faith as we are commanded to do. That’s not God’s way, and we should never rebel against what He has told us to do. Our lives don’t belong to us, they belong to God. What He says goes.
2Corinthians 10:4(NKJV) declares, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.” Some of us have made thoughts of fear, sadness, and disappointment a habit. They are a stronghold because we’ve been practicing them for so long. We should know that habits can be broken. We have been delivered from them in Christ. God’s Word lets us know that the devil has no power over us unless we give it to him. It’s incredibly important we understand that our thoughts and feelings of darkness and condemnation can open a crack. When that happens, it’s our responsibility to seal that crack. Spiritual warfare is sometimes necessary to do this.
We can’t use weapons of the flesh to fight a spiritual battle. We must use the weapons that God has given us, which are His Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the power and guidance of His Holy Spirit. These are mighty in God and they will pull down those strongholds. How dare we think that anything or anyone can stand against the weapons that God has provided us through Christ. That is impossible. So, we must stand on His truth. It’s true that when we have believed a lie for a long time, we might have to tussle a little bit in our minds, and it can be uncomfortable. We have thoughts of, “I’m scared… I’m not good enough. I’m too this or that…I just want to hide.” But all the while, the Holy Spirit is helping us bring those things to the surface so they can be exposed to the love of God and replaced with thoughts of His love and excellence.
Sometimes, we feel defeated, down, and sad because we’re waiting for someone or something to rescue us. We won’t recognize the truth that God rescued us from the realm of darkness and damnation through the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ. He died once and that is all it took. The victory Christ won for us is something we don’t have to fake. It’s real and we can walk in it every day!
The power of the Holy Spirit is in us because of Christ, and he is waiting on us to have faith in God. He wants us to surrender to our Heavenly Father totally and begin to saturate our minds with His Word so that we trust in our deliverance. The victory of Christ is ours for the taking, and a whole new world will open up for us if we come from behind the veil of excuses and begin to think Christlike thoughts that produce his wellness, contentment, goodness, and peace.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
“Come out of Hiding”, written by Reverend Fran Mack. Edits by Kim Times and K. Stephens for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2023. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.