“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

Mind Renewal

I enjoy watching home renovation/restoration/decorating programs. It’s such fun to watch old, worn-out homes turned into beautifully updated living spaces. One of my favorites is Home Town. It’s filmed in the small town of Laurel, Mississippi. The couple who renovates the homes, Ben and Erin, say that they hope there will come a time when every old home in the city will be renovated so that it can live on. What a wonderful goal.

I was watching an episode recently where they took a really old, worn down, dilapidated home and turned it into a gorgeous masterpiece. The transformation was remarkable—jaw dropping in the transformation, almost unbelievable.

As I was watching the program, I had the thought come to my mind: that’s what God does to us, especially in how He renews our mind. We are bombarded with tragic, hopeless stories every day in the news. And often we see sad situations around us where we live. It’s easy to be robbed of hope and joy. So many needs. So many difficult problems. So many hurting people. So many things that seem impossible to remedy. It can be overwhelming.

It’s really important to ask God to renew our minds so that we can see HIM in the midst of all the needs. He understands the pressure of the world around us robbing us of our joy, our hope, our faith. But when we invite Him to come in and cleanse our minds, our spirits—it gives us a fresh start. It’s entirely possible for us to become so distracted by the things around us that we lose sight of His presence in us and with us. We lose sight of the “hope and future” that He has for us. We miss how He wants to use us as His instrument in the situations we are so concerned about.

These last few years as I battled cancer and cared for Floyd, I had to be carefully on guard that I didn’t lose sight of who God was in my midst, how He wanted to help me with all I faced. A protection for me was to regularly ask God to cleanse and renew my mind.  It was an important protection for me to keep from being overwhelmed with all I faced.

Honestly, I don’t think I could have made it without the Lord frequently renewing my mind! Everything was so difficult, so heavy, so many needs and problems. Some days it felt like I was carrying the weight of the world on my frail shoulders. But every time I came to the Lord and asked Him to lift the weights and renew my mind, it felt like I had a new beginning. His light came shining through the darkness of everything I faced.

I am so grateful for His renewing power in my mind that helps me see clearly who He is in the midst of the problems I face.

“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” (Philippians 4:8). This verse is such powerful instruction! If we truly focused our minds and hearts on that list, our lives would be so different.

Lord, renew our minds by Your own strength and power. Help us think the truth. Amen.