The windows of my mind

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good pleasing and perfect will."  Romans 12:2

Each year, in my walk with the Lord I grow in faith and excitement. I find he often works in conjunction with our seasons.  I don’t gather in the harvest, plough and sow fresh seed, but sense He does.  And it is during the latter time He turns over my life and points out issues that maybe I should have, but haven’t dealt with.  Last October I had a growing awareness something wasn’t right, but it took me until early-December before the Lord showed me the windscreen of my mind had been hit, and in gradually cracking it had begun distorting my vision on life.  

I didn’t need to know the cause, but the Lord pointed out that I’d allowed that distortion to affect how I saw people, situations and places, and worse still engage in negative opinions and gossip.  I sat with Him to consider this.  If I was in a car I’d have to push through the cracked glass in order to see where I was going.   If it were at home I’d use the opportunity to replace the glass with double glazing to afford greater protection in the future.

For several mornings I awoke hearing in my mind Dusty Springfield singing the words ‘the windows of my mind’, later to discover the song was ‘windmills of my mind’!   It never ceases to amaze me the things the Lord will use to attract our attention.  I needed a renewing of my mind, and protection from what Joyce Meyer calls ‘stinking thinking’.   The scripture about confessing our sins one to another came to mind.  And I discovered when I did that, and apologised to others for the negative comments and judgements I’d made, I asked the Lord to help me change.     

A good father disciplines his children, but it had taken several months to recognise why I felt what I’d call ‘slightly out of kilter’.  But when I did and obeyed His Word, He told me the replacement would be triple glazed to help me view life through Him, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and draw conclusions from His perspective. 

What a wonderful Christmas gift to know in Him we can enjoy His great love, joy and peace in the midst of a world that has fallen into confusion.  God is everywhere and in everything, and my heart is to choose to release God’s love, blessing and encouragement into all I write and those I meet.  

As 2018, and my birthday arrived, I became aware of a tinge in the triple-glazing which makes the grass look greener, the sky bluer and the sun a deeper glow.  May you, reading this, experience a greater measure of the Lord, and know you have been called for a time such as this.

Ruth Johnson