"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in You." Isaiah 26:3
Here is the promise
made to us by Scripture. That no matter what the obstacle, trial,
conflict or suffering, we can experience the perfect peace of God which will
supply us with all that we need to persevere. Philippians 4:8 further
helps to explain what we are to do in taking our thoughts captive,
"whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or
praiseworthy—think about such things." In short, if we occupy our minds on
the beauty of the Gospel and the character of God, then we will experience
perfect peace. Simple enough, right? So if that's all there is to
battling unbelief and worry, then why are we not able to successfully find this
peace in our day to day existence? Why do I wake up worrying about
relationships in my life, my work, my bank account, my family? Why do I
struggle with critical thoughts? Why do I constantly find myself in a state of
unbelief regarding God's character and his care over me?
I believe the struggle
regarding our thoughts continues because we have done a poor job of practically
applying these two principles in our daily lives. We don't experience peace
because we don't practically look to make permanent changes in our hearts so that
our thoughts will become steadfast. We simply try and will ourselves to
think only lovely things and to focus on the Lord. In the counseling
world, we call this approach "white knuckling it" meaning that we
ball our hands up in a tight fist and say "I can do it! I can do it."
The problem with white knuckling it is that you can only clench your fists for
so long. Eventually you will tire out. The same goes with taking
our thoughts captive.
Here's an exercise to
prove my point. I want you to do exactly as I say. Ready?
Don't look at the light bulb in your room. Don't look at it. If
it's a lamp, don't you dare cast your eyes that way. Don't look at the
light fixture. Don't look at the candle. Whatever your light source is,
don't look at it.
Okay, if you are
anything like me, you found yourself suddenly struggling with the desire to
look at that darn light bulb! What was previously not even an idea in
your head has now become the one thing you must do. So go ahead...look at
the light.
The point is that we
are setting ourselves up for failure whenever we command ourselves to only
think good things. When we focus on our behaviors and not our hearts, we
then experience exactly what the Apostle Paul expresses, " For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing
I hate."
When we simply tell ourselves that we are not going to
think bad thoughts, we are setting ourselves up for failure in the same way
that I set you up for failure when I told you not to look at that light bulb.
(Did you just look at it again?) The trick is not to deny our negative
thoughts. In the same way that we cannot easily dismiss our desire to
look at the light bulb, we also cannot turn a blind eye to our negative
thoughts. We can't overlook the elephant in the room. And let's be
real, we know it's there and so does God. To simply dismiss the sinful
thought or the heart driving it is to refuse to confess our sin to our Savior.
Avoiding the problem doesn't make it go away. We must get to the root of
these thoughts to make permanent heart change. So how do we do this? We
involve God. We seek to think pleasing thoughts and when we fail, we stop and
confess and ask God to help us to grow in this endeavor for
holiness. True sanctification is the combination of the work of the
Holy Spirit and our obedience. Sanctification involves growing in the
love and knowledge of our Lord through obeying His commands and in repenting
from our sins. We can model these very things in learning to take our
thoughts captive. Below are what I hope will be helpful points in helping
you to practically do this.
***Please note that I
have compiled these notes using Charles Spurgeon's sermon "The Song of the
City, and the Pearl of Peace" on Isaiah 26:3 in combination with my own
thoughts from Hebrews 3 and 1 Peter 5:6-10 on how to put these concepts to
work.
Our hearts: Hebrews 3
1. Are led astray when
we don't consider the ways of the Lord (and specifically his being in the
details of our life) Hebrews 3:10
2. When we don't
recognize God's hand at work in our lives, our hearts enter into unbelief and
we tend to run to our old ways of doing things or avoiding things.
3. Our hearts harden
when we refuse to believe God's promises
We enter peace:
Hebrews 3 and 1Peter 5:6-10
1. When we choose to
meditate on God's promises and his character.
2. When we rest on
Christ's promises.
3. When we commune with
God
4. When are hearts
allow God to give us the necessary discernment and will to believe him even
when we are in the "wilderness."
5. When we come to a
place of total resignation to God's will, knowing that his will for us is
perfect, loving and good. 1 Peter 5:6
God provides peace:
Spurgeon on Isaiah 26:3
1. Through provision
of community within the church and physical resources
2. By working in our
mind to renew it and to give it discernment
3. Through providence
of circumstances
Taking our thoughts
captive: Spurgeon on Isaiah 26:3
1. Every thought must
be connected to God. This is not denial of certain thoughts. It is taking
even unbiblical thoughts and contradicting them by tying them to God and his
promises. (For example: "Lord, I confess that I am tempted to belittle my
co-worker in order to exalt myself. Thank you, Lord, that you do not treat me
in this way. Help me to consider my co-worker better than myself and to
seek ways to love and care for her.)
2. We do not dwell on
the "What If" thoughts because we are not to dwell on any thought
that makes our Lord appear unkind or faithless.--Spurgeon
3. "We are to have
no confidence in our circumstances or even in other people. God must be
our supreme confidence and hope."--Spurgeon
4. "We do not
sigh for tomorrow. We stay where we are anchored by Him."--Spurgeon
5. We cast all of our
anxieties on Him because he cares for us. 1 Peter 5:6-10.
"When we rest in
God there is no sinful hurrying up."--Spurgeon
As we strive to please
the Lord in our thought life, we must saturate ourselves with the Gospel so
that we will not become exasperated by our sin. The work of the Holy
Spirit is to point us to Christ. Your sin should serve as a reminder that
yes, you still need your precious Savior even today. We will never be
able to do anything apart from Him. Let your struggles give you a greater
passion to lean on Christ for victory over them. And in the meantime, you
will experience the growth of peace in your heart as you strive to be steadfast
in your pursuit of the Lord.
Michelle Horton lives in Northwest Washington, DC. She is a member of
Restoration Church where she currently serves part-time on staff as a
biblical counselor. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Speech and
Communication Studies at Clemson University and her Master of Divinity
in Biblical Counseling from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Prior to becoming a biblical counselor, Michelle pursued a career in
television news for six years. It was when Michelle personally
experienced the saving grace of Jesus Christ and his redemption in her
own life that she first became interested in biblical counseling. She
decided to study biblical counseling as a means of sharing Jesus Christ
and the transforming power that only comes from walking with Him.
Michelle enjoys counseling a wide variety of issues with a special
interest in counseling women who struggle with addictions, eating
disorders and depression. In her spare time, she enjoys running, water
skiing, watching Clemson football and enjoying all the sites and scenery
DC has to offer.
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