MEDITATION:
Written by David Jeremiah, a contemporary pastor, author, and speaker. This is an excerpt from his book “Where Do We Go From Here?”
The Lord created your human imagination to be a powerful force. It can create beautiful visions of a desirable future, or it can conjure up worst-case scenarios. These dark products of the imagination can put you in the grip of fear—a place God would never have you go. The power that banishes fear is a sound mind. We maintain a sound mind by “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). When an unhealthy thought enters your head (“I’m sick;” “all is lost;” I’m going to die!”), examine it in light of the knowledge of God. Does this thought have any basis in reality? If not, take it captive. Don’t give it free rein in your mind. Don’t let it lead your imagination away from God’s goodness and into unhealthy fear. When Isobel Kuhn was fighting cancer, she realized the real enemy was something too deep for the surgeon’s scalpel. It lay in the invisible world of her imagination. She wrote, “I had to refuse to allow my imagination to play with my future. That future, I believe, is ordered of God, and no man can guess it. For me to let myself imagine how or when the end would come was not only unprofitable, it was definitely harmful, so I had to bring my thoughts into captivity that they might not dishonor Christ.” Gaining a sound and centered mind is not as difficult as you think. If we simply read the Scripture deeply, thoughtfully, and openly every day, we will invite the Holy Spirit to whisper new strength into our thoughts. He and He alone can tame the reckless power of the human mind. A mind centered on the truth of God is the key to His sustaining grace. He will keep you from losing heart. The best definition I’ve ever heard of anxiety is “imagining the future without Jesus in it.” Have you done some of that? When we realize that Jesus is present today and will be present tomorrow, we can be set free from worry. As someone said, “Worry is faith in the negative, trust in the unpleasant, assurance of disaster, and belief in defeat. Worry is wasting today’s time to clutter up tomorrow’s opportunities with yesterday’s troubles.”
PRAYER:
This prayer is from the Episocopal Book of Comon Prayer.
Merciful Jesus, you are my guide, the joy of my heart, the author of my hope, and the object of my love. I come seeking refreshment and peace. Show me your mercy, relieve my fears and anxieties, and grant me a quiet mind and an expectant heart, that by the assurance of your presence I may learn to abide in you, who is my Lord and my God. Amen.
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