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I was literally within the first 5 people to enter Canadian Tire the other day, and barely made it out with a pack of toilet paper. What is going on?
I have to be honest, I am absolutely astounded how quickly and dramatically fear has taken over entire nations.
I am not at all trying to make light of the situation at hand. I know that we all need to use wisdom, exercise precaution, and care for ourselves and each other. However, in times like these, even more important than taking inventory of our toilet paper stock, is taking inventory of our thought life.
We all have storehouses that we are responsible to fill and guard long before crisis arises. They aren’t physical storehouses. They don’t require frantic trips to the grocery store, elbowing your neighbor in the face to get the last can of soup, or losing sleep over the state of the world.
Deuteronomy 11:8; Proverbs 3:3; 6:21; 7:3 all tell us that we are responsible for storing up God’s word in our hearts. That doesn’t just mean, read them on occasion. It means, really KNOW them. When God’s word is stored up in your heart it will alter your thinking and bring peace and joy outward.
It’s never too late to begin intentionally changing your patterns of thinking, and as you do so, be sure that you are putting a guard at the door of your mind. We can do that by being aware of our thoughts, and immediately kicking out the ones that don’t line up with the word that’s been stored up in our hearts.
All it takes is a quick glance at the news to see what happens when there is no guard at the door of people’s minds and fear is free to barge in and ransack their thoughts and emotions.
Peace and fear are not the results of our circumstances, despite what you might believe. They are the results of intentional vs default thinking. How do you react in happy times? How about when the budget is tight? Or relationships get strained? When things are hard at work? When a virus breaks out and there is no cure?
All of those are great opportunities to exercise intentional thought. Let me share a time in my life when hubby, Jordan, and I were really challenged to get right in our thinking.
Shortly after Jordan and I got married, like really shortly, we found out that we were expecting. We also had some crazy stuff happening in the world of business. Within our first year of marriage our income went down to a third of what we were used to making, and we welcomed our first baby.
The stress of providing for his growing family while trying to invest in business, his new marriage, and his brand new baby girl was more than Jordan could handle. Jord got sick. Really sick. His weight dropped down, energy completely diminished and he could barely function normally, forget all the extra activities he had always enjoyed doing.
Fear was winning. Thankfully, we were surrounded with people a lot smarter than we were, who challenge us to grow in our faith. They reminded us that the word of God only has power in our lives if we believe it. The promise of provision, healing, peace, or any others aren’t ours by default. We have to exercise faith to receive, and faith and fear cannot operate arm-in-arm.
What we hadn’t thought about was that by allowing fear to enter into our minds, wills, and emotions (souls), we were actually choosing to stand in disagreement with the word of God. That knowledge put the right kind of fear in us. Above all else, we wanted to be on God’s side of the battle (who doesn’t want to be on the winning side?).
So we buckled down and got busy in the word. We studied what our Bible had to say about finances, provision, health, caring for our bodies, operating in faith, fear of the Lord, supernatural protection, and any other topics in which we had more questions than answers. Which was a lot, because we were pretty new at the whole idea of not letting our thoughts rule our lives.
My dad has basically been a Sunday school teacher forever, and he likes to play a game called, “Stump the Chump”. When I was a kid in his class we used to joke that if you didn’t know the answer to one of his trivia questions it was most likely Jesus, or Moses. That was kind of where my Biblical knowledge was at when my husband was facing what felt like a serious health crisis.
It was all fun and games until it literally felt like his life depended on our revelation of the word of God. We needed to know more than the ten commandments that Moses wrote. We needed revelation of the why behind those ten commandments, and the promises attached to them. And we needed to really know the heart of God the Father, Jesus His Son, and the Holy Spirit that was sent to empower us from within.
Over the next few days I want to share with you a few things we learned in that season that are still carrying us, even through this chaotic season we are living in right now. This should be fun since school is closed, and I have 4 kids under the age of 8 at home with me.
But truly, I’m excited for the week ahead, to grow with you, and watch the word transform our homes into centers of peace and life to our communities. But first let me share a scripture out of which a lot of these lessons came,
Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. -Philippians 4:4-9
Lesson #1: Rejoicing is to Provision What Battering Ram is to Door
It is often the last thing you feel like doing. I promise you, friend, the times that feel the darkest, heaviest, saddest, and most difficult to rejoice about are exactly the moments in which rejoicing is absolutely vital.
I have seen grieving mother’s sing praises over the bodies of their child who has passed away too young. I have watched those who have lost everything to fire, and to bankruptcy lift their hands in thanks to the Lord for his provision and his goodness in their lives.
The moments when worship seemed impossible were the moments when worship was the only way to heal and move passed the crisis and trauma.
We regularly practice this in our home now, as we have experienced the power of it. We often don’t feel like it, but every bad day should end in a dance party, with hands lifted, hearts poured out in gratitude, and lips parted in praise to the One who never fails.
I can’t even explain to you the change this brings into the atmosphere of a home, and the freedom and joy that always follow our obedience in giving thanks to our Lord and Savior. What we usually begin in grumbling always ends in tears of joy.
Whatever it is that you need, it can be found in his presence. How do we enter his presence? With praise and thanksgiving (Psalm 100:4).
Check back tomorrow (or join my email list to be notified of new blog posts) for another lesson learned in hard times. I pray it will encourage you in the same way it is still encouraging me.
P.S. If some or a lot of what you’ve read is new to you, or you’re not sure what to make of it, head over to my Books & Resources for some of the teaching resources that have taught me on my journey to live by faith.
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