They knew God but did not praise and thank him for being God. Instead, their thoughts were total nonsense, and their misguided minds were plunged into darkness. ~Romans 1:21 I've learned a lot over the years about the power of the mind. Especially the power of the thoughts of our mind. Like everyone in this world my life has had a mix of highs and lows, ups and downs, focus and chaos, and with each good or bad situation my thoughts were transformed to fit the mold of the circumstance. When times are good and joy flows freely, it is easy for our thoughts to be focused on thanking God for everything in your life. God is good and worthy of our praise...ALL of the time. When something out of the blue hits the scene it is almost like being hit by a train. I've realized over the years that our thoughts have the ability to open our minds and hearts to God as well as create a blanket that separates us from Him. That blanket falls so quickly sometimes and with it seems to come darkness. As the scripture in Romans states, our thoughts become nonsense and our minds are plunged into darkness. I know you know what I mean. If you've ever been in a difficult situation or having a bad day, you know how quickly and how forcefully your mind can take you to a dark, or depressed, state. In the Greek the word for darkened means obscured. Our light, the thoughts that we are supposed to be focused on have become obscured. We are no longer seeing things correctly. "I'm never going to get a job" "Life will never work out well for me" "I'm never going to make it anywhere like this" Sound familiar? It does to me. If we continue to let these thoughts bombard us that blanket becomes thicker and thicker and our darkness becomes impenetrable. God is not going to fight for His position in our hearts and mind. He loves us, He is jealous for us but we have the choice to focus on him or focus on our circumstances. If we choose to focus on the circumstances he allows us our choice. I'm not saying He leaves us, I'm saying we step away from him and by doing so, we lose contact with what connects us to the light. What do you do when you can not see, hear or feel God? Well let me ask you this. Can you always see, hear or feel Him when things are good? Not always, but we attribute good to God and bad to Evil. Good to blessing, bad to cursing. In reality, God is God in the good and the bad, and good things as well as bad things will happen to us all. Yes, to us all. It is promised to us that trials will come, it is said that rain falls on us all. So, back to my question. What do you do when you can not see, hear or feel God in your present situation? You reach up and you poke holes in the dark that are separating you from Him. HOW??? you ask? With your praise. With your thanks. Darkness can not stay when you allow light to start shining through. Suddenly, God, your light floods my path, God drives out the darkness. I smash the bands of marauders, I vault the high fences. What a God! His road stretches straight and smooth. Every God-direction is road-tested. Everyone who runs toward him Makes it. 2 Samuel 22:29-31 Believe me, I know how hard it is to send up a praise when you feel you are suffocating. Even if you feel it is your last breath, allow praise to roll off your lips and SUDDENLY watch the beautiful light of God spill into your heart and mind, lifting you up and allowing you to begin to realign your focus toward Him. The more holes you poke, the quicker the darkness leaves. Even if you feel your situation holds nothing praise worthy, you can praise Him because of who He is. Provider. Comforter. Healer. Defender. Strength. Peace...the list is endless. I challenge us all to poke holes in our darkness.
~Michelle
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AuthorsThoughts and ideas inspired by the Holy Spirit, delivered to you courtesy of Chris or Michelle Cooper. We hope you enjoy our posts and would love to hear your feedback! Archives
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