Intentional Encounters
You’re my place of quiet retreat; I wait for Your Word to renew me. Psalm 119:14
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Isaiah 26:3
Insight
In the midst of the hurry, we miss teachable moments of growth. We run at a breakneck speed in hopes of manufacturing maturity through our strength and effort. The pace many of us are going at is not sustainable. But, the need for solitude speaks to something more profound.
If we don’t let God’s Word transform our mind and heart, we will enable our belief system to be molded and shaped by our culture. Remember, if the image of God doesn’t form us, some other model will.
Our perspective will quickly become the only lens we use to view life. With this limited perspective, we’ll spend our days living with no conviction or foundational principles, leaving us incredibly vulnerable. James 1:8 refers to these types of people as “double-minded and unstable in all they do.”
Each one of us has a system of belief that shapes his or her actions and words. It impacts their perspective, influences their identity, and affects their relationships. We act on these feelings (“lean on our own understanding”) because we believe they are profitable. It isn’t until our perspective collides with reality and God’s Truth that we tend to slow down long enough to consider what is fueling our actions.
We must take time to pause and ask ourselves: What defines our reality? How did we come to this system of belief? What information do we feed ourselves that in turn shapes our perspective? What are we feeding our souls?
The answers and insights to these questions don’t come in the midst of a hurry.
We make decisions every day. We pursue things every day. We give value to things every day. All of these everyday decisions and actions serve as a response to our system of belief. Critically thinking when studying Scripture is so important.
We have to handle God’s Word in such a way that it becomes authoritative in our lives. Reading is critical. If God’s Word doesn’t influence our thinking, then we will fall back on our old system belief shaped by our emotions, circumstances, limited perspective, and the opinions of others.
The mind is mainly a servant of the heart. The time has come to transform our belief system by looking intently at His Word. This requires us to slow down and listen.
Growth comes through intentional encounters.
The purpose of thinking clearly is so we can live submissively. There is a level of trust and effort that we must exert. The charge is not merely to read more of God’s Word, but to take it a step further and examine what these truths say about our heart and where our trust lies.
Reflection
What are you feeding your soul?
How are you structuring your life to have intentional encounters with God?
Prayer
Lord, test me. Search me. I want You to explore the places where I worry the most. Help me to be honest about what I tend to believe about my world. But most of all, help me to see You above it all. And Lord, I pray that seeing You will change everything about the way I see my world. In Your name, Jesus. Amen.
