Stop Coping

BIBLE VERSE

“Letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.” Romans 8:6 (NLT) “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10 (KJV)

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT
For a long time I had wrestled with my glasses. They were bent, causing me headaches and resulting in having to move my head awkwardly to make the bi-focal lens work right. But hey, I could see okay and why take time out to get them fixed if I didn’t need to. “If it’s not broken, why fix it?” I was coping fine. Eventually, my reading was worse and I noticed signs starting to blur at far distances. I would move my glasses on my head and “cope” harder. Finally, my wife set up an appointment to get new glasses and I went in. I was embarrassed to realize that it had been over ten years since I last had an eye exam or new pair of glasses. As they tested my eyes, I was amazed at how much better I could see, how less my face tensed up as I didn’t have to “cope” with seeing. As I left, I could not help but think of how many issues in life I act the same way. I look at life through worn out glasses, learning to cope with inferior sight when all the time a new pair of glasses is waiting for me. Jesus said He came to give us extraordinary living. Paul wrote that we can choose to let the Holy Spirit control our mind. The result is not some half-baked coping, it is life and peace. Our own thinking is poor eye-sight at best. We need the direction of the Holy Spirit to give us the sight we really need. Today, give up coping and start living. Quit trying to make it on your own, just getting by. Start living with the life and peace God has for you. Give your mind to the Holy Spirit and let Him take control.

PRAYER
Father, I have tried to cope on my own. I say, “I will follow You”, but instead I rely on my own efforts. Forgive me, Lord. Today, I give You my mind and ask You to control my life. I am tired of coping. I want the life You have for me. In Jesus’ name I pray.
AMEN