3 Ways to Renew Your Mind

We’ve all said the following at some point in our lives: 

“God feels far away.” 

“I don’t feel His presence anymore.” 

“God is not answering my prayers.” 

“God must not care about me.” 

“My requests aren’t big enough for God to listen to.”  

Too often, we take our insecurities and negative thinking and project them onto God. There is no doubt about the fact that many of us have been wounded deeply by family, friends, and the worst betrayal, from fellow Christians. Because this is what we “know,” we apply these negative attributes of our fellow man to God. When life is handing us one trial after another or when friends are forsaking us, we immediately assume that God will do the same.  

Let’s look at the story of Hagar: As you recall, Abram’s wife Sarai was barren and wanted to obtain a child through her slave, Hagar, having her sleep with Abram. Indeed, Hagar did conceive, but when Sarai found out, she ended up despising her and sent her into the wilderness. So here we have Hagar pregnant and cast out. Abram was of no help and told Sarai to do as she felt was right. 

Genesis 16:7-11; 13 says, “Now the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. He said, 'Hagar, Sarai’s slave woman, from where have you come, and where are you going?' And she said, 'I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.' So the angel of the Lord said to her, 'Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.' The angel of the Lord also said to her, 'I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.' The angel of the Lord said to her further, 'Behold, you are pregnant, And you will give birth to a son; And you shall name him Ishmael, Because the Lord has heard your affliction…' Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, 'You are a God who sees me.'"

When we are placed in vulnerable, scary situations, our minds can go down a rabbit hole of fear and self-loathing. We either become angry at God or we feel that it’s not worth calling on Him because our situation feels so hopeless. But friends, we are no different than Hagar in whatever difficult circumstance we find ourselves in. God sees us. He knows our situations. He will ultimately bless us, but we need to renew our minds by returning to Jesus through re-establishing our relationship and connection with Him. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who seek Him.” Satan’s MO is to try to isolate us from God. We must remember that Satan is a liar and instead return to the truth of God’s promises and His Word.  

Even when you feel like the Lord is far away, remember: "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit" (Psalm 34:18). Believe that promise and seek after Him with your whole heart through His Word. Ask Him to show Himself to you in a tangible way, and I promise you, renewal of your mind will happen, and you will sense the Lord in every way.

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I don’t know about you, but just reading the words “receive fresh life, strength, and revival” conjures up pictures of a beautiful summer day with bright sunshine, fluffy white clouds floating by, birds singing, and a babbling brook gently flowing through a field of wildflowers.  

Sadly, we can’t make this our reality every day to be present in such a beautiful scene of serenity, but we do have the peace of the Holy Spirit that flows through us no matter how gloomy the thoughts in our minds might be. The key is to renew our minds by focusing on the peace of Christ, not on our circumstances that may be draining life and strength from us. And believe me, I know life can certainly feel that way. I personally am in an incredibly difficult season in my life where my parents, daughter, and grandchildren need me in very significant ways. I literally said a couple of weeks ago, "I feel like a scene out of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom where I am a zebra being ripped apart by a bunch of lions." There’s only so much of me to go around and, as a result, especially in the quiet hours while trying to sleep, my mind is not peaceful at all. Instead, it's trying to solve every problem in my own strength.

But what if I said there is a way to experience that beautiful scene I described above even in the midst of feeling drained of life and strength? Psalm 23:1-5 comes to mind: “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”  

I actually just finished a Christian fiction book set in the 1800s where this passage was the main character's lifeline to the renewal of her mind in every situation she came up against. Sometimes she was literally in life or death situations, yet she renewed her mind by reciting Psalm 23 and found new strength.

Remember, the Scriptures are the Word of Life. Psalm 1:2 says, “Instead, they find happiness in the Teaching of the Lord, and they think about it day and night.” God’s Word is meant to renew our minds, hearts, and spirits just by reading and thinking about them. God’s Word is powerful and certainly brings about fresh life, strength, and revival.

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I truly feel that all the ways a person can feel tired, weariness, and exhaustion of the mind are equally draining. Although I haven’t looked it up, I would imagine that those who need therapy are at an all-time high. Life lately just hands us so much to unpack and navigate.  The world is broken; it’s no wonder we feel broken and worn out too.  

As believers, we have instructions from the Word of God on ways to renew our minds. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." Philippians 4:8 tells us, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." 

The key to experiencing victory over our minds in the Christian life is applying these verses to every thought we have. Our situations may not change, but we will be replacing what is broken and worn out in our minds with the Truth of God’s Word.  

Studies have shown that positive thoughts affect the brain very quickly. And it’s no wonder that the Creator of our brains would build into its make-up the importance of positive thinking as showcased in our verse above from Philippians.

The quickest way to renew your mind when it feels broken and worn out is to apply the above verses to your everyday thinking.  

As you have seen, God’s Word is the number one tool we have to renew our minds. My hope is that by applying His Word in the different ways I’ve outlined, you will feel more equipped to renew your mind when the inevitable need arises.

 Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Dilok Klaisataporn