Set Your Mind and Keep It Set

Do you feel like you’re always at war with someone or something? We all face battles in life. But when we put our faith in God and let Him fight for us, He leads us to victory. In the Bible, we can see this through the example of a man named Jehoshaphat. Let’s look together at 2 Chronicles 20:1-3 (AMPC).

The Story of Jehoshaphat

According to verse 1, Jehoshaphat was facing many enemies. It says, “after this, the Moabites, the Ammonites, and with them the Meunites came against Jehoshaphat to battle.”

All of Jehoshaphat’s enemies were called some sort of “ites.” I like to say that today we have our own brand of “ites” or enemies. Maybe you’re in season when the poverty-ites are coming against you. Or have you ever battled the sickness-ites, the people-ites, the grouchy neighbor-ites or the bad boss-ites? There is a seemingly endless list of enemies we can face at different times.

So, when we face an enemy, what are we supposed to do? Take a look at what Jehoshaphat did in verses 2 and 3: It was told Jehoshaphat, A great multitude has come against you from beyond the [Dead] Sea, from Edom. . . . Then, Jehoshaphat feared.

Now, fear is a typical, natural response, ut we don’t have to bow down to fear just because we feel it. Fear only causes us to go backwards and not make progress. We have to learn to keep going forward and do it afraid.

And that’s exactly what Jehoshaphat did. Verse 3 continues, saying that he set himself [determinedly, as his vital need] to seek the Lord; he proclaimed a fast in all Judah.

Now look closely: Jehoshaphat didn’t run around seeking other people’s advice. He set himself determinedly, or made a decision, to seek the Lord.

Set Your Mind

I want to ask you to do what Colossians 3:2 says: Set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth.

That means you can decide ahead of time what you’re going to do in a certain situation. That way, if it happens, you’ll already be prepared to take action. For example, many of you know my husband, Dave, really enjoys playing golf. Recently, I asked him how he would respond if golf was somehow taken away from him. This is what Dave said, “I’ve already set my mind that if a time comes when I can no longer play golf, I won’t let it bother me.”

What a wise statement! Many people don’t think about preparing ahead of time for something like that. And when a difficult situation or disappointment occurs, they react with dread and say things like, “Oh, I don’t know what I’m going to do. This is terrible!”

The next time you face trouble, you can do what Jehoshaphat did. You can set your mind to be stable and solid and not react emotionally to fear. Then, your first response can be to seek God and find out what He has to say about the situation.

The good news is there is no need to fear trouble, because God is on your side!