God’s Way for Chaotic Times

And?do not be conformed to this world, but?be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may?prove what?is?that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2

As the storms and chaos of this decade continue, we must be careful and diligent to avoid the enemies’ temptations toward conformity with this world. We are citizens of the kingdom of God, with access to the grace and faith we need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. In so doing, God will use our response as testimony of His good, acceptable, and perfect will into our spheres of influence.

As we have encouraged in the past, God has a way for everything, including our navigation through chaotic times.

The Philippians Church had more than its share of storms and chaos. Paul acknowledged, in his epistle:

For to you?it has been granted on behalf of Christ,?not only to believe in Him, but also to?suffer for His sake, having the same conflict?which you saw in me and now hear?is?in me. Philippians 1:29-30.

He encouraged them in their suffering to “let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus”, who “humbled Himself and?became?obedient to?the point of?death, even the death of the cross.”

And before closing his letter of encouragement and instruction, Paul explained how it was possible to have the mind of Christ in the chaos of their circumstances. First, there must be peace of heart and mind.

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men.?The Lord?is?at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with?thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and?the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7

Many years ago, this passage became a recipe and prayer for peace in a particularly stressful time. Here is the recipe, one phrase at a time:

1. Rejoice in the Lord always.?Express your joy over something in your life, even something related to the chaos.
2. Again I will say, rejoice!?Search your heart and mind for something else to be joyful about – a double rejoicing. If necessary, ask the Holy Spirit to help you.
3. Let your gentleness be known to all men.?Submit to the Spirit for His fruit in all your relationships.
4. The Lord?is?at hand. Acknowledge the Lord’s presence in your life, particularly in the chaos you are facing.
5. Be anxious for nothing. Allow the Holy Spirit to identify the source of your anxiety. Remember: Behind every fear (and anxiety) is a lie; deal with the lie, and the fear will fly. Let the peace of God reign in your heart (Colossians 3:15).
6. But in everything by prayer and supplication.?Talk to God about your chaos. Be transparent and humble. Come to Him as a child. The Father loves talking with His children.
7. With?thanksgiving.?Thank God for something specifically related to the chaos. If for nothing else, thank him for His presence and promise to never forsake you.
8. Let your requests be made known to God.?Ask God, as best as you can, for the thing He wants to give you in the chaos. You will have to listen carefully to know what that is; but in knowing, you can be confident in His answer (1John 5:14-15).
9. And?the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.?Intentionally receive the promise of God’s peace in the chaos.

Here is an example of how you might pray for God’s peace.

Father in Heaven, I rejoice in Your presence. I rejoice in the promise of Your protection and peace in this circumstance! I surrender to the expression of Your gentleness to everyone involved – even those that appear to be my enemies. I know You are with me in every trial and tribulation. By Your grace, I refuse to be anxious. Thank You for this opportunity to experience and prove Your love. I pray for Your protection and guidance in this situation. I will not be able to persevere without You. I desperately need You. I receive Your peace and I rest in Your protection, through Your Son; in whose name I pray. Amen.

Practice this prayer, and you will come to experience God turning what our enemies intended for evil to His good.

But don’t stop there!

Once God’s peace and protection are firmly established, press on into transformation by the renewing of your mind. Embrace God’s way for leveraging the chaos to kingdom advantage.

Finally, brethren, whatever things are?true, whatever things?are?noble, whatever things are just, whatever things?are?pure, whatever things?are?lovely, whatever things?are?of good report, if there is?any virtue and if?there is?anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. Philippians 4:8

God has allowed the storms and chaos of this decade to occur in order to encourage and enable Christians to change the way they think. Our last two books – An Enemy Lies Within and The Storms Have Only Just Begun – speak to this subject extensively. Since their publication, the Holy Spirit has led me to a few other discoveries:

Clinical researchers have discovered that our society has shifted to Left Hemisphere (LH) dominated ways of thinking, and that is a problem – not that the LH is bad, it just does not need to be in charge.

Here’s the issue: The Right Hemisphere (RH) is responsible for our consideration and pursuit of higher order values: Goodness, beauty, truth, and the sacred. Also, justice, courage, fidelity, and compassion.

The LH is focused singularly on utility: values which provide usefulness for satisfying basic needs and wants. In life and business, this is accumulation and control. For example, the “bottom line at all cost” is LH dominated thinking. Moreover, the LH is not only incapable of higher value thinking: It dismisses higher order values in favor of lower ones – it either reduces everything to its utility value or rejects it.

As the church compromised and conformed to Western culture (i.e., this world), LH dominated thinking supplanted christianly thinking, allowing secular-humanistic philosophy to rush in. On the whole, we no longer think as Paul instructed.

There are three distinct considerations here. The more obvious is the raw material of our thinking: our world view or mindset, the values we should hold dear and use to organize our lives.?Paul lists many of them in the Philippians text.

The second important consideration is the way we think. To think biblically is not only about the raw material; God has a way for everything, including the way for our thinking. To think in a way other than the way God created and prescribes is to miss the mark – even unintentionally out of ignorance, it is to sin.?

Paul speaks to the third important consideration in Philippians 4:9 – The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and?the God of peace will be with you. Here, we are encouraged to mature in the way we think and help others do the same – in community and out of responsibility to future Christian generations. For example, we must rediscover and communicate what it means to exercise the mind of Christ.?

In closing, let me by clear: This is a call to action. Nothing of value comes without sacrifice and diligence. I am personally pressing in to understand how to better apply what the Holy Spirit is revealing. I hope to identify and communicate the exercises and disciplines that will enable and empower christianly thinking.

Please join me. You will find a few in the books mentioned above. Paul Blamires’ The Christian Mind is also a good resource. As always, let me know if you would like to discuss this further.

God bless you with grace for the renewal of your mind and those within your spheres of influence.

Humbly yours and forever His,

Rob

#iamjustthepen