Healing The Hurt // Renew Your Mindset Sample

A Force Deeper and Greater

There is much to know in this world. A world of information. A world where knowledge is prized. Choices are judged good or bad. People who don’t know each other seek to validate—or invalidate—other people’s actions.

Yes, there is goodness and there is evil. There is right and there is wrong. But be careful: watch who guides your opinions. For what you see in this world is a fragment, a piece of a fragment, of what is really going on.

It is good to have standards, beliefs about character—what is kind, what is noble, what is loving, what is true. But there are so many things you don’t know, so many things that you don’t understand. And I want you to be okay with that.

It is a world, on a certain level, that you know intimately: you feel its pulse, you experience the push and pull of its influence everyday. But it is also a world where things don’t make sense for a reason. It is a world under a power that is single-minded in its focus: warp truth, blur hope, create chaos and distraction and fear. You are in a battleground where your busyness, your distraction, your feelings of disqualification and overwhelm, are the focus, the goal.

And that is why this world feels the opposite of simple. It is a maze of hurry, pressure, problems and noise. There is an enemy whose main goal is to separate you from me—make you doubt who you are, make your feelings of inadequacy propel you toward seeking progress for the sake of progress, information for the sake of information, power for the sake of power. His mission is to make you feel like you are not enough, that you can never get ahead but that you need to, that there is a standard for measuring your worth and that you are failing at it, definitely failing. He wants to make you feel that while you can never fully measure up, you sure better try.

But there is more here, in this world, that is real, that is good—a more than can sometimes be difficult for you to see. For in this world where Jesus walked, a world of shadow and deception, there is also light; there is also hope. While it is with veiled eyes and heart that you see and experience this world now, I invite you to push deeper in—into my heart. I invite you to desire the truth that I have for you, a greater wisdom fueled by love. It is a wisdom your heart knows and that the world cannot understand.

You are more qualified, more capable, more amazing than you know. For you are in this world but designed for more than this world, too. You are designed to know me, to walk with me, to receive complete freedom from the shackles of success: achievement, progress, monetary growth.

What you seek you will find. What you desire will fuel greater desire. So ask yourself now, what is it you seek? What is it you desire? Are the pressures of this world directing your choices, or is the truth of me, the gifts I have for you, motivating you to rebel against everything this world stands for because you know, deep in your heart, there is more, there is more, there is more?

Underneath the rhythms of movement—of choices sons and daughters make—there is a Force deeper and greater and more powerful than anything else. It is a Force that cannot be explained by words. It is a Force that is beyond knowledge. Come, let me help you get to know Him better.

Exercise:

This world can feel like a maze—and we barely have enough time to find our way through each twist and turn. We think we’re doing the right things. Dealing with all the information coming at us; getting done the things we have to get done; making all the decisions that must be made. We try to make the right choices. We try to keep up. We try to get ahead.

We’re often in a hurry. Everything is urgent. Distraction is everywhere.

And we can forget what’s most important.

And that takes a toll. The pace and the stress. The comparison and the condemnation. Forgetting what’s most important takes a toll on our health, our relationships, and our souls. We begin to seek and devote time and energy to things that just aren’t very good for us—to things that take life, rather than give life to us.

“What you seek you will find,” Holy Spirit said. “What you desire will fuel greater desire.”

He also just asked us some tough questions. And answering them just might be the most important thing we can do today.

What are you seeking, truly? What do you desire most, honestly?

Is the culture of the world directing and ordering your steps? Or is God’s truth and goodness and love pulling you toward Him, instead?

Let’s meditate on the truth of Psalm 46 :

God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy habitation of the Most High.

God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;

God will help her when morning dawns.

The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;

he utters his voice, the earth melts.

The Lord of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come, behold the works of the Lord,

how he has brought desolations on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

he burns the chariots with fire.

“Be still, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!”

The Lord of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Father, you are my fortress. You are my refuge and strength. And I need you. Because, I confess, this world has a lot of power over me. I’m not immune to the confusion, the chaos, and the noise. I’m not immune to the pressure. But in the midst of it all, I know You offer me protection and peace. You offer me restoration and goodness. You offer me water from a constantly flowing river of grace. You offer me living water, so I’ll never thirst again—even in the midst of this hurry and urgency and distraction.

“Be still,” you say, “and know that I am God,” Yes, help me be still. Help me to know—with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my soul—that You are my God.

I consecrate my mind to you now. Please help me answer the questions you asked.

What am I seeking that isn’t you? What am I desiring, more than you?

What did you hear? What did He say?

Father, I think back to the voice of Holy Spirit. He said, “Underneath . . . there is a Force deeper and greater and more powerful than anything else. It is a Force that cannot be explained by words. It is a Force that is beyond knowledge. Come,” He said, “let me help you get to know Him better.”

Yes, Father, help me to get to know Jesus better. To know Him is what I want—more than anything else. And to the extent that it’s not, help me. Help me release the things I’m seeking and desiring more than Jesus. I want to want to know Him more than everything else—and I need help to do that.

Amen.