I am sipping my coffee, and hearing some distant thunder this morning.
Yesterday was a bit rough for me, Refuel - time with my brothers - refreshed me last night.
But I hear that thunder, and I wonder what today will bring with it.
Reading psalm 42 this morning, I realize what I could have done yesterday, what I will do today.
The Psalmist was having a rather rough day when he wrote this one, but there is a lesson in how he handles it.
"My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
"Where is your God?" Psalm 42:3 (NIV)
But then he says something interesting, and here is what jumped out at me this morning.
"Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God." v5
It's easy to miss. But there is a difference here between what he is feeling and what he knows is true. His emotions are in charge, and he is taking back control by speaking the truth about God to himself.
His mind knows he has reason to praise God! And as he speaks these words to himself and then to God, his outlook begins to change.
"My soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.
By day the Lord directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life." vv6-8
There is power in that. When the day is dark, our minds can follow our emotions bringing us down.
But if we bring to mind those times when we have clearly seen God move in our lives, remember that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and that He loves us, remember that we have reason to praise Him, then by doing that and speaking scriptures to ourselves, our outlook can change, even when our circumstances may not.
And that is half the battle right there, to face life's challenges with the right perspective. That is what it means to have the "mind of Christ".
To believe the Word of God, when the thunder roars the loudest. To trust in Him and His Word during these times of testing, that will make all the difference, and often in those times we experience the most growth. That is how our minds transform. And the more we do that, the easier it will get.
What will today bring? I don't know, but I know how I want to handle it this time.
