Out of Our Minds 
By Becky Rule

Countless times over the last few years I have wondered how the Lord’s specific direction and leading in our lives could be right. Over and over again I have thought, “This CANNOT be right. We must not be hearing God correctly. Are we out of our minds?!” The questioning has only increased in intensity and frequency, to the point that lately it has reached a tormenting fever pitch.

On a recent Sabbath I lay before the Lord and admitted what I felt…trapped, and that I had no more resources to weather where He has me in all areas of my life. I told Him I could not take anymore, but also felt I had no where to go. The ways I had previously related to Him and others no longer fit. Things certainly cannot continue this way, but there seems to be no way to move from where we are either. I asked Him to search me, to search our lives; and to tell us where we are getting it wrong. All the while, an underlying chant played over and over through my mind: “This cannot be right! Are we out of our minds?” As is usual of late, my sharing was met with silence…another thing I felt no longer able to weather.

The following day I sat with Mike during a counseling session. When the topic turned to the privilege of having the mind of Christ as believers and living according to that mind, my spiritual ears perked up and I immediately knew Jesus had something to say to me. Very clearly I heard, “Yes, Becky. You ARE out of your mind. That is as it should be. You have My mind… and you are to live from it, not your own. All else WILL seem ‘out of your mind’ because it is! Your thoughts are not My thoughts. Your ways are not My ways.”

I inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. My circumstances did not change, and He did not promise that they would; but what freedom, joy and peace! Likewise, be encouraged! The next time you think you are out of your mind because of what Jesus is asking of you, know that the inner conflict and tension you are experiencing is normal. Because we live according to His mind and His thoughts, we ARE literally ‘out of our minds.’

Verses For Reflection

“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Jeremiah 31:33

“For ‘who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”  1 Corinthians 2:16