Let Go, for Mental Peace

Letting go in the mental category! Now that’s not quite as simple as the physical category! It’s really easy to retain the negative in life. Let’s face it the whole world lives in the negative. Television is basically negative look at most shows. There’s plenty of murder, sarcastic humor, and sadness. Commercials basically try to motivate the buyer by fear. You need to get the flu shot now or you may die or  get sick with out it. Fear runs rampant in  our society. The news is basically depressing and sad; there is very little good news to be found on the major networks, in the newspapers and on the radio.

Recently my daughter has gotten into a fear of everything. She doesn’t want to be in any part of the house if there is not someone there with her. At bed time the hall light has to be on. The night light in her room has to be lit and her childrens bible stories have to be playing. I believe that these fears  came about from watching television. If she learns about a tornado on the weather channel, or a hurricane she is immediately concerned about it hitting in our location. It’s a project for my wife and me to help her over come these fears.

So how can you and I and my daughter get to the place that we can live above the fears and negatives of the world? What can you and I do to eliminate fear in life and stress in life? Fear is one of the biggest enemies that you and I face. Fear has caused many men to cower. It’s stopped men who could be great from winning when the pressure was on. Fear has caused many their health, wealth and freedom. It’s broken up friendships, marriages, and relationships. So let’s systematically break this down and see how we can eliminate it in our lives.

A child’s fears are often unfounded and not realistic. For instance when I was a child the great fear for me was the boogie man or monsters under the bed. A jacket hanging up on a door could look like a person in the dark. My daughter has to have a night light on at night. What a night light does is to keep away the shadow and objects at night that could look like a monster to an eight year old. Does my daughter have a reason to fear? NO she learned to fear! It’s something that most children go through, perhaps from watching scary shows on TV or having an older sibling who helps to cause them to fear.

So let’s get started and see what we can do to eliminate fear. 

Proverbs has a verse that gives us  a good starting point on this topic. Fear brings a snare. A snare is a trap that is used to catch an animal by stealth. The animal does not realize it is  going to get trapped until it is to late.

 Proverbs 29:25The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.

Look, who ever puts his trust in God is safe from the trap. So how do we trust God?  Do we just pray and hope that God will be there?  No in truth a trust in God involves more that just hope. It involves a believing of what his Word says. It involves prayer with believing and an expectation that God who is in you to will and to do of his good pleasure will give you the desires of your heart.

Here’s an example: Years ago when I first got involved in the Word of God. I had met this very nice beautiful girl at our fellowship. This is before I got married of course.  I really developed a crush on this girl so much so that all I could think about was her. It was driving me crazy. I had to figure out a way to eliminate this constant thought of her. Did she like me? Did I say something wrong to her? What is she thinking? So I decided I needed to go to the Word and find a promise I could claim. Then I prayed with believing and got out my bible and read psalms for about an hour straight out loud. I believe God worked in my heart to do this because when I was done I no longer had the crazy thoughts and fears about this girl. In fact I was so solid in my thought processes that as time went by I realized that this girl wasn’t for me after all. She lacked a  commitment to the one true God that I decided I needed in a woman.

I like to claim Mark 11: 23-24 many times when I’believe for something.

²³For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.  ²⁴Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

Winning in life and eliminating fear involves claiming promises in Gods Word. Once a person is born again they can still live in fear if they want. God never over rides free will, however if they go to God’s Word and renew their mind to it. They will be successful and overcome in their life.

Romans 12: 1-2  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  ²And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

See God does not want us conformed to this world of doubt, worry, and fear. He wants us to prove the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Positive believing is acceptable to God. It will be acceptable to you also as you claim the promise. The word transformed here is the greek word  Metamorphoo. It’s like the caterpillar going in to the  chrysalis, it changes and comes out a butterfly it has wings and the freedom to fly. Going into the chrysalis the caterpillar is limited in what it can do. There is greater freedom and mobility when it comes out. Renewing your mind will change your life, it will give you the peace that passes understanding and bring you freedom from fear in your thought processes.

You ask but Rick how do I renew my mind? What do I need to do in order to get my mind renewed?

It’s really quite simple. Let’s say that you have something you are believing for in your life. It may be spiritual, or it may be in the physical category, or it may be in the mental category, which we have been focusing on.

My wife is originally from the big city, New York. She had no driving experience in her twenties. She lived in a city where they have a subway, a great bus system, and plenty of taxis’. Driving was not something she knew how to do. It was foreign to her and something that was a real challenge in her mind. The mental anguish and fear that it brings could easily have overwhelmed her. The renewed mind is what got her through. Here’s what she did! She had a fear of being in an accident. It’s one thing to ride as a passenger in a car.  It’s another thing to actually drive one. Look at it this way, when your driving you have multiple tasks you are performing. You need to steer, pay attention to mirrors, keep track of the cars around you, utilize your turn signals, at times turn on the heater or AC, adjust the radio, pay attention to traffic lights, pedestrians and animals. For a new person that can be overwhelming.  My wife picked out the following verses.

Psalm 91:4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Psalm 28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

In order to overcome she had to see her self driving the car. She studied the words shield and buckler from God’s Word. God is a shield. Her mind set was of God as a shield around the car. She trusted that he would protect her, as I taught her how to drive. Any time she started to doubt or worry about driving she would  go in her mind to trusting that God is her shield and buckler, and that he would always be there with her. She would literally claim the promise of God and see herself driving the car successfully. Gradually as she continued to learn and improve in her skills her confidence grew. Today she is a great driver. She let go of her fear by claiming the promise of God, and seeing herself  doing the task of driving.

Besides the renewed mind another major key to letting go is the art of communication. Not talking has been the downfall of many a relationship, friendship, and marriage. Lets face it the Word of God says:

Ephesians 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

When people do not resolve issues and points of contention in their relationships they end up carrying around thoughts that cause anxiety and fear. Just like my being so caught up in thinking about that girl. If I had communicated with her I could have resolved the issue sooner. When my wife and I don’t resolve things and go to bed upset at each other our sleep is usually a poor night of sleep. The anxiety of the night is not worth allowing ourselves the lousy night of sleep. So we stay up and talk until the issue is resolved.

A simple solution to worrying about what someone else is thinking is to ask them. When we talk to each other it is easier to bring peace to our minds, because whatever issues we have before the conversation can be brought out into the open and the ended. Men are not usually as good as women at communicating, but sharing your heart with another is easily learned.

So we’ve seen that letting go in the mental category involves renewing the mind to God’s word and claiming the promises he has in his Word. Success is guaranteed if God’s people will do this. We’ve also seen that communication is so vital in helping to let go of the stress and anxiety that the lack of communication can bring.  We don’t let the sun go down our wrath. Let go and let God deliver you from your fears.