Your “Sound Mind” Solution!
By Neil D. Gass

November’s “Message for the Moment” stated that God has ALREADY GIVEN you a “SOUND MIND” & went on to introduce you to the nature & power of that mind in equipping you for success in any area of your life. Look again at Romans 12:2“For God has NOT given us an ATTITUDE of FEAR, but he HAS GIVEN US AN ATTITUDE of POWER (CAPABILITY) & of LOVE (INCLUDING LOVABILITY) & of a SOUND MIND.” This is not to be confused with the brain or with the educated intellect or with natural IQ. It’s GOD’S GIFT to you as person of faith. Whether you have more degrees than a thermometer or none at all, you are equally gifted with this SOUND MIND by means of which you can live life unlimited by anything other than the power of God!

It’s universally true that as a person who lives life by faith, “You have nothing to fear but fear itself!” Because you have been given a SOUND MIND, you don’t need to be paralyzed by irrational fears. Those fears are neither NATURAL, GENETIC, nor a result of your PERSONALITY! And you certainly didn’t get them from GOD, nor did he “make you that way,” for the verse above says it plainly, “GOD HAS NOT GIVEN US THE ATTITIDE OF FEAR!” No,you LEARNED to be fearful in life & relationships by misperceiving situations, misinterpreting people & events, failing to understand what real options & resources God has put at your disposal for dealing with life & people. Such irrational fear can CRIPPLE YOU for two reasons:

(1) Because it DISTORTS YOUR PERCEPTION !

(2) Because it PARALYZES YOU in the ACTION DEPARTMENT !

Remember the story in Matthew 14: 22-33 of Christ’s disciples at sea in a fierce storm, without him? He had remained on shore to finish ministering to the crowds. Meantime, his small crew of disciples was being tossed about precariously on the waves. As anxiety & vulnerability increased, they were, no doubt, peering off into the storm, hoping for Jesus to come to the rescue. Jesus, who had been talking to His Father, was fully aware of their circumstances, came to them, walking on the water. Now, observe the scene carefully. Jesus has commissioned them to get into the boat, cross the lake, & meet him on the other side. The clear implication is, “Guys, I’ll see you on the other side.” Everything he’d told them to date had come true; they should have known both he & they would get to the other side safely. But FEAR has kicked in. They’re in a life threatening storm & irrational thinking has taken over.

Now get this. Suddenly, out of the stormy night, Jesus comes to them, walking on the water. THE SOLUTION is ON THE WAY! Somebody on that boat should have said, “Relax, guys! Here comes our deliverance!” Objectively that was true. But who’s objective when irrational fear takes over? You bypass the SOUND MIND, go straight to panic & misperceive the entire situation. Here he is, their much needed SOLUTION, but their irrational fears are firmly in control. “Oh, my Lord,” they cry out, “If it’s not bad enough we’re going to drown out here, now we have to deal with A GHOST!” Their FEAR causes them to MISPERCEIVE THEIR SOLUTION & to SEE HIM AS A PROBLEM!

Application time, folks! How often has God sent you a SOLUTION, which your irrational fear, PERCEIVED as a PROBLEM, causing you to REJECT THE SOLUTION & stay stuck in your situation?Can you relate this principle to your life?

Say, for instance, that you are in a dead end job with no hope of advancement or salary increase. You’re just barely making it. You desperately NEED A SOLUTION! Someone tells you about a good company interviewing for a position with upward mobility, excellent salary & outstanding benefits. But, your FEAR OF FAILURE takes over. “What if I don’t get selected for the job? How would I handle the rejection? How would I deal with the embarrassment if people found out?” You don’t even make an initial interview appointment because, THROUGH FEAR, you PERCEIVE the interview not as a POTENTIAL SOLUTION, but as MAJOR THREAT in itself, a thing to be AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS!

Or, say, you’ve just moved to a new community & a neighbor invites you to their home to help you get acquainted with your new neighbors. But, your FEAR OF REJECTION, or your SOCIAL PHOBIA asserts itself. “What if they don’t like me?” “What if I make a fool of myself by saying something stupid & nobody in the community ever invites me to anything again?” Your FEAR causes you to PERCEIVE the invitation as a POTENTIAL CATASTROPHE in the making. You “call in sick,” treat the OPPORTUNITY as a PROBLEM to be AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS & never get to know the people who’d have loved to be your new friends!

You’re trapped in a “CATCH 22” of your own irrational making! A real “DOUBLE BIND” where you constantly feel, “I’m damned if I do & I’m damned if I don’t!” If you want to dissolve the dilemma, solve your financial problem, you have to RISK the INTERVIEW! To risk the interview you have to FACE DOWN YOUR IRRATIONAL FEAR! If you want to end the loneliness & isolation you have to RISK the INVITATION! To risk the invitation you have to FACE DOWN YOUR FEAR OF REJECTION! To do this you have to ACT OUT OF YOUR SOUND MIND, not out of your irrational fears!

The eleven disciples in the boat appeared paralyzed by fear & took NO ACTION. Peter, alone, BROKE OUT of the PARALYSIS of FEAR & ACTED out of HIS SOUND MIND! “Lord if that’s really you, tell me to get out of this boat & come to you walking on the water!” He did & Peter did! Peter, scared just like everybody else, conquered the paralysis of fear by BOLD ACTION! He didn’t wait till he wasn’t afraid. He did it scared, till he overcame the fear! He stepped out of the boat onto the water & walked. That’s how the SOUND MIND EMPOWERS YOU. It ADOPTS GOD’S REALITY as ITS OWN! NOTHNG IS MORE RATIONAL in the realm of spiritual reality, than to opt for reality AS GOD CALLS IT & to COMMIT TO ACTION BASED ON THAT.

Sure, Peter began to sink after a while, when he focused on the water, not on the master. But he wasn’t drowning, because, having done what Jesus told him to do, he had moved into another realm of reality, where God’s provision never fails! His bold action placed him within reach of Jesus, who reached for Peter & lifted him up. No, he wasn’t in immanent danger of death. He was LEARNING & DEVELOPING his faith by action! The SOUND MIND operates on higher principles & puts you in tough with greater resources than the merely human, rational mind does. You simply HAVE TO TAKE BOLD ACTION based on God’s word & leave the results to Him! He has way more at stake than you do & he WON’T FAIL!