Rom 12:2  Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Some time back while praying. This verse spoke to me with reference to some obstacle I would come across in the days to come. The obstacle arrived and I was at peace.

For a long time I have been convinced that, its not my mind that would communicate with God, yes my mind was part of me and would have a role to play in my salvation, but its contribution would only be part I would also need to control it.

A good example of what is the role of the mind. When you go to a restaurant and order a meal your mind would choose the dishes you like by reading the menu and knowing from past choices what you would like. However, when the food arrives and you put it into your mouth your mind has no more role to play, the eating and digestion is taken care of by your mouth and other internal organs. In the same way with prayer and your relationship with God, your mind will read and interpret things for you but there are other parts of you that will process what your mind tells you. God can also directly speak to you without your mind.

However quite often my mind works more than it should. It always wants to offer me solutions and fixes for things it can never understand. So much so it exceeds itself. My mind offers me alternative solutions and alternate solutions to the alternative solutions, sometimes for variations on the problem I face. I may not be going through the alternative problems but my mind tells me to be prepared just in case I need a solution. To do this It presents to me all the combinations for the problem and what I can do just in case I need solutions.

So, if I have a disagreement with someone, my mind will tell me all the options I have, If the person I have a disagreement with says something I can give a him or her a specific answer, or if he or she says the something else I can still answer that with an answer from the alternative solutions my mind has prepared me for, I may even be thrilled with the answer my mind came up with.

Today’s reading was from Luke about Zechariah and Elizabeth and the visit of Gabriel with Zechariah.

In Luk 1:18 we find Zechariah answer the angle like this

Luk 1:18  And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 

You see Zechariah was just like me, he thought things out and got himself into trouble.

Luk 1:20  And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things come to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” 

My mind like Zechariah’s mind it likes to understand everything I am told when all that is needed is faith, my mind does not believe in faith, it believes in logic.

I ask myself can my mind get me to heaven and I know without doubt that this will never happen because I do not have the logic needed, programmed into my mind. Also since my mind does not work on faith I doubt it would understand any angel, good or bad or even when God speaks to me.

Now you may wonder what could be bad in thinking things over. There is nothing bad except my mind takes my eyes off Jesus, and when that happens there is a high chance I may mess things up by doing something logical.

For example, when I lost my job two months back, one of the things Jesus told me was not to brood over what has happen, in other words, don’t let my mind dwell on the situation. If I brood I will end up in problems as I will not trust that my God will provide for me.

Another area is in forgiveness, when I analyze the situation when I disagree with someone, I invariably feel I am right, also my mind will convince me that If I did not do what I did or should do then something else would have happened, and I would have to react another way which would cause me more problems. To avoid the multiple problems my mind brings to light I would consider all the options my mind tells me about the person I am dealing with. I would then face him or her with the current problem and other hypothetical problems conjured up by my mind, I am sure you can understand the results. I know I will never be at peace. I have learned not to give my mind an option to analyze things, I just take the situation as it is forgive if needed and move on, I no longer permit the situation to stay in my mind I make sure my mind leaves the thought as well. I have found a lot of peace when I do this.

I feel we have lost the ability to identify Angels when they come to speak to us because we use our minds, I intend to try to learn what inside me can understand these things, I know my God is faithful and will lead me, till then I continue to wait on him.