The Wisdom Of Making Plans To Renew Your Mind

I’ve had COVID at least three times, and each time I was so weak that it took weeks to recover my energy. With each bout, I suffered different losses—my hair, my voice, and—like many others—my sense of smell and taste. But each time, I gained something eternal—an extraordinary deepening in my relationship with God. 

God taught me the value of renewing my mind within His presence.

Setting aside more than a few hours in one block of time to renew my mind in Christ wasn’t typically built into my schedule. Sure, I made it a priority nearly every day to have a morning quiet time and pray, but retraining the mind is like boot camp—it takes time. It takes concentrated effort to train our mind to think in a totally different way than we have for our entire life! Isolation during COVID was the perfect opportunity. It was a unique time away from my jam-packed schedule. Although it was frustrating to get further behind in work and other responsibilities, each time, God gave me the peace to know I was exactly where I needed to be. In the silence and isolation God challenged me to learn to do something I’ve never done before—that is, to…

…totally turn my mind over to Him.

No television; no radio; no podcasts; and very little outside contact except occasional phone calls from family to check on me. It was simply God, His Word, and me. This time was so riveting and life-changing, God issued a challenge for me to PLAN to TRAIN my mind—even when I wasn’t forced into isolation by COVID.

Training my mind to allow GOD to be in charge is brilliant! It was liberating. You see, even when I have my routine daily morning prayer and quiet time and then go off to work, my mind quickly begins to run around like an untamed wild mustang. But a mind that is consistently trained to be dominated by God’s presence is free to discover the brilliance of HIS mind. He said:

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” 

Isaiah 55:9

‬We gain entry into God’s thoughts when we bring our thoughts into subjection to His righteousness. The Bible says we are to capture our thoughts and bring them into submission against anything that violates our knowledge of God and His ways:

“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” 

2 Corinthians 10:5

Sin robs us of wisdom and causes us to become fools. It also robs us of God’s extraordinary and beautiful imagination. He created everything we love and so why wouldn’t we want to THINK like the Source of all good??? Why wouldn’t we want God to be in charge of our mind when He’s got much better thoughts than we do—right?

Remarkably, when we turn our mind over to God, we can expect a remarkable miracle that no one else in the world gets to experience: PEACE!

“Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusts in Thee.” 

Isaiah 26:3

When our mind is trained to think more like God, we possess peace which is unparalleled in human experience. Peace is worth fighting for. It’s worth staying pure for. In a world riddled with anxiety-ridden people, it is a rare and wonderful oasis. When I am not experiencing peace, I know it’s time to back-track and see where I lost my sense of God’s presence. God is always the same, so I know if my peace is diminished it’s because I’ve gone astray. Sometimes it’s merely the sin of worry or even just a day of doing life on my own that has taken me away from His peaceful presence. Other times, the Holy Spirit takes me into a time of confession where I ask Him to reveal sin—even if it’s simply my thoughtlessness for His great generosity. After you’ve lived in God’s peace, you become desperate to repair any breach which will bring you back into His presence. 

Sustained alone-time with God is like spring cleaning for your heart!

As we build the mind of Christ, we begin to hunger and thirst for His righteousness. Our desire becomes more than just a desire for intellectual education; rather, it’s a desire to fill our mind with His remarkable thoughts. It’s an amazing upward cycle of desire that demands more of His presence! My prolonged times of isolation with COVID helped me develop a priceless new habit. Now I plan special weekends alone with Him—much like couples do—in order to connect more deeply. My friend, you will NOT regret making plans with God. When you set aside time to learn to think like Almighty God—believe me—the experience will build wisdom and peace which is FAR greater than you imagine.