Thinking the Thoughts of God: Part 3
In this third and final part of thinking the thoughts of God I want to give you a real life example of how thinking more of the thoughts of God works to create spiritual growth in your life.
Recently in my church, a man named Bob (not his real name) stepped up to a significant leadership role in our student ministry. After months of preparation there was a launch event which went very well.
The next week Bob ruptured his Achilles tendon playing basketball and needed emergency surgery.
Do you think Bob’s injury was an accident?
Maybe…but I have seen too many bad things happen in people’s lives just after they stepped up to serve God to for me to believe it is just a coincidence. I think there is much more going on behind the spiritual scenes. I think when you step up to serve God a bigger target gets placed on your back for the enemies of God to shoot at.
So here is Bob…just stepped up to serve God…and God allows this to happen to him.
So imagine two white boards. On the white board to the left are the thoughts of God about this situation. On the white board to the right are the thoughts of Bob about this situation.
How close do you think they are?
Let’s talk about what Bob’s thoughts on his white board could be…
“If this is how God rewards me for stepping up to serve Him, I am out of this Christian thing…why would I ever serve a God like that?”
“Stepping up and serving God just to get a bigger spiritual target on my back was the stupidest thing I have done in a long time…I will still follow Jesus…but I am out of stepping up to serve him…”
“How could God have let this happen right after I stepped up to serve him? If anything God should have protected me from this for serving him…”
Do you think any of these are the thoughts of God about Bob’s situation? No, of course not. But if Bob wraps his mind around any of them…begins to fixate on them…struggle with them…roll them around in his mind…he will end up in a bad place. Any of these thoughts will hurt Bob’s spiritual growth.
Yet if Bob is able to think the thoughts of God about his situation, he can then take the opportunity this difficult situation creates to increase his spiritual growth.
Every situation in your life is an opportunity to experience increased spiritual growth.
To experience growth in any situation you must think the thoughts of God about the situation. You must frame the situation from God’s perspective.
Now this is a real life example. It is occurring at this moment in time. So do you think Bob’s thoughts are God’s thoughts? In a text message Bob shared his thoughts about this situation with me:
“Thank you for the words of encouragement. I greatly appreciate the support. This is a blessing though. I am now slowed down enough to get clearly aligned on family, the ministry, and all those things God would have me do. Thank you once again…”
When I read Bob’s text, I had two strong feelings:
- The first was yes…yes…this is exactly what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Bob is a living example of how to think the thoughts of God in a difficult situation to create more spiritual growth.
- The second was a tremendous sense of conviction. I don’t think I would have responded as well to what happened to Bob if it had happened to me. There are some far less difficult situations in my life right now I am not responding to with as much godliness. It is always humbling as a pastor when one of your people demonstrates more godliness than you think you would in a particular situation.
But let’s go back to you for a moment.
Think of a situation in your life you are struggling with. On your left is the whiteboard with God’s thoughts. On your right is the whiteboard with your thoughts.
How much overlap is there between what is written on the white boards?
Maybe some. But I think you will agree there could be more. But how then do you think more of the thoughts of God? Here are three additional ideas which have helped me.
3 Simple Steps to Think More of the Thoughts of God:
- Attend a good church OFTEN.
- Study the teachings of the Bible MORE often.
- Listen FREQUENTLY to good sermons from others.
Remember the big takeaway from this series of three posts:
Your relationship with God will follow the trail of your thoughts.
Connect with more teaching from God in accordance with the truth in Jesus to think more of the thoughts of God.
I guarantee you will not regret it!
Leave a comment and share what has worked in your life to help you think more of the thoughts of God. If it has helped you, I am sure it will help others.
