Every time I have experienced a change in my life over the years it has come in one of two ways. Either, I develop a plan and work really hard to discipline myself and make a change or my eyes are open to a new way of thinking and the change comes as a result.

The latter way, only requires a source of truth outside myself and the openness and willingness to accept that truth. The first method has never lasted for me. It requires strenuous effort and a determined will for a long period of time. The first method is how we can make things happen on our own. The second, is how life can transform with the help of God.

The Bible teaches if I will surrender my will to His will, inform and transform the way I think the outcome is life change. Some may call this experience an aha moment. The lights go on, something that wasn’t understood becomes clear and once seen, I wonder how I was blind for so long.

Note the order, surrender comes first, then a renewing of my mind and then a changed life. The only time I have experienced this true life change is when I am humble enough to surrender and open enough to hear.

Most of the major battles I’ve faced in life have come from me exerting what I want over clear teaching of Scripture and what God says is so. For my understanding of who God is and how He works to be accurate, I need to allow Him to reveal who He is to me. I cannot create Him to be what I want in my own mind.

This truth is so simple yet so profound. God has given us the natural world, His word and His Son to study for mind overhauling. When I can live in line with revealed truth, with a humble heart and eyes wide open, it is restful, peaceful rather than stressed and conflicted. Life becomes stimulating because of seeing new things.

When I have a battle internally, I can ask God to show me how my thought processes are wrong. What am I missing, what don’t I see, how am I thinking about the subject that leads me to the wrong outcome. As I ponder deeply revealed truth, He will show me. The lights go on. The battle fades. My life is changed again in some way.

blessings,

Scott