Every day we make choices: what to wear, what to eat, where to go, what to do. And one of the most important decisions that we make every day that affects everything is how we respond to all the things coming at us.
This past summer, I did the Bible study Get Out of Your Head by Jennie Allen. It's a study of Philippians regarding our thoughts and where they lead us: up toward God or down toward what our thoughts are fixated on.
Allen says we are in a battle for our minds, and there are all these enemies, which come from the Enemy, that are battling for control. But God gives us weapons that we can use to fight against the Enemy so that we can find freedom in Christ.
Make a Choice
This is something we need right now in the social climate we are living in. We need weapons to fight the great downward spiral because every day we are bombarded with information that can do a number on us. We can elevate our importance, lose ourselves in the noise, and not spend time with our Father. We may fall into the trap of cynicism, isolation, complacency, and victimhood or allow anxiety to take over.
Allen says, “Our emotions trigger a thought, thoughts lead to behaviors, behaviors affect relationships and then there are consequences.” This spiral can have a positive consequence (spiraling up) or a negative consequence (spiraling down). In both spirals, we have a choice.
She writes, “This spiral starts with a stance of surrender toward God that reminds us we are His, He is working through us, and we have a choice. So, when we’re faced with an emotion that threatens to send us downward, we take hold of one thought: I have a choice. We learn to choose thoughts that conform to the mind of Christ, we start seeing better behaviors, better relationships and better consequences. Our hearts are set on what the Spirit desires as Paul put it. Focused on God, our spirals begin to flip.”
Weapons to Defeat Our Enemy
One of the weapons she talks about to help us is silence: “stillness, solitude in the presence of God.” This seems like a no-brainer. Of course, spending time with God will help us know his love for us, his truths, his ways. Yet, how often is this something we struggle with?
How many times have I set my alarm early to spend time with him, but rather than opening my Bible while I drink my cup of coffee, I turn on my phone for “just a second” only to have my God-time hijacked by an overwhelming amount of news and updates and thoughts and opinions. Or, maybe I am sitting down to watch church online and get distracted by a text message that comes in or the other videos on YouTube that are listed. Or maybe I decided to listen to a sermon or devotional while I am getting ready for the day, but there’s a podcast that catches my eye . . . noise. There’s so much noise around us!
Allen writes, “That’s why the enemy wants to fill our lives and our heads and our hearts with noise. Because silence with God is the beginning of every victory.”
Allen lists other weapons: humility, delight, connection, intentionality, gratefulness, and trust. All these have an enemy that they are designed to defeat: self-importance, cynicism, isolation, complacency, victimhood, and anxiety. (You should do the study to learn how to use these weapons!)
Silence With God Is Fundamental
Overall, I believe, the foundation is silence with God. When we spend time alone with God, even for a few minutes each day, we will “…be transformed by the renewal of your mind…” (Romans 12:2) so that when those times of choice come (oh, and they come) we will be able to choose a thought that is based in the truth of the Lord and not the desires or lies of the flesh.
So where do you start if this is new to you? Or, maybe you’ve tried and you’re discouraged. May I ask why? Is it because you need to let go of what your expectation of a quiet time looks like? Maybe it’s not sitting in a cozy chair with a cozy blanket and a hot cup of coffee next to a roaring fire in the early morning hours. (Confession: this is what I want my time with the Lord to be like. Truth: It rarely is).
Here’s my encouragement to you: there is no right time or way to spend time with God. There isn’t. You need to find what works for you and that may be different every day! It could be in the early morning hours or maybe it’s on your lunch break. Or maybe it’s ten minutes alone in the bathroom (because you have kids and this is the only place that they will leave you alone – sometimes). Maybe it’s when you’re in the car or before you go to bed. Maybe it’s reading books from the Bible or it’s using a devotional. Maybe it's reading and journaling ... maybe, maybe, maybe! Here’s the thing: it doesn’t matter how or when you spend time with God. What does matter is that you do it daily.
He is our Creator. He is our Father. He is our Lord. To walk in his ways, to do his will, we need to know him. We need to “fix our eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2) so that instead of spiraling down into who we don’t like to be, who we don’t want to be, we can spiral up and walk in freedom in Christ.
