Turning My Mind To Him

Good Wednesday morning! On most days, I begin the devotional with a greeting in a similar manner. This is of course to remind myself of what day has arrived. Indeed there are some days where I entertain a short debate on what day is up to bat. On the other side of that carefree attitude is the dreadful situation. Very nearly all of these DSs are imaginary in nature, that is, they exist only in my mind. This is part of the cross that those with mental illness bear. The imaginary dreadful situation is so intense that we have difficulty separating it from reality. A big part of our training, whether psychology-based or Christian-based is in learning to turn the mind away more quickly, with the ultimate goal of simply refusing to start any vision of a dreadful nature. As a Christian, I find the most effective turning away from the DS is to turn my mind to Jesus.

A good theological exploration in the Bible, or a tough issue raised in prayer with Jesus is just the ticket to turning my mind to Him. A walk outside for an hour is made possible by 'talking it out' with the Lord. Jesus, through His Holy Spirit, leads my mind in the right direction and I discover new truths in Christ. This is not always easy.

The world, its prince, and my carnal nature conspire to remind me of weakness, death, suffering, evil, and all the other stuff that make this world a tough place to live. If that won't do it, a quick perusal of almost any news website or program will do the trick just fine. There are many dreadful situations I imagine, but there are many that are quite real too. At the very least, with my Lord's help, I can eliminate the imaginary ones and trust in Him for the strength to endure the real ones.

God's mercy and grace to you,
Bucky