Mindset Matters

I looked at her life and wished it were mine.

She had a godly husband. I was a single mom. She had a beautiful home. I lived in a rental dive.

The list went on until I sighed a prayer, God, please change my life. Discouragement and exhaustion had been flooding my soul. Everything I tried left me tired and confused. My physical body was exhausted, my heart felt drained, and my thoughts were spinning down a black hole of discouragement.

But God.

The most powerful phrase in scripture.

But God heard my cry.

Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. (Isaiah 65:24, ESV)

As I look back over the years to the day I barely breathed that prayer, I can see God’s hand leading me.
He truly heard my cry and came to my rescue. It wasn’t until years later that all the pieces became visible. In that moment of comparison, He began the steps to change my life. I couldn’t see it until later. He didn’t text me to let me know He was on it. But I know that now, and this verse reminds me of many of those moments.

Maybe you think I’m crazy, but it all begins with a thought. Mindset matters. Our thoughts flow out of our hearts, and they direct our attitudes and actions. Mindset matters because it determines the direction of our lives, either toward or away from our destiny.

With a simple thought, we affect our emotional health, our physical health, and most importantly, our spiritual health. With a simple thought, we can live that abundant life Jesus promised us with joy, with peace, and with exceptional results.
Our thoughts come directly from our beliefs. Our thoughts about God, about ourselves, and about our faith directly impact our actions, our lifestyle, and our faith journey. It is the most important thing we control in our lives.

Mindset matters. What we think of ourselves matters. What we think of God matters. Most of the challenges that  we face in our faith walk, even in our regular daily walk, are because we have a faulty mindset, specifically about our identity.

• Psalms 139:13 tells us that God created our inmost being; that He knit each of us in our mother's womb.
• Job 10:8 tells us that God’s own hands shaped us.
• Ephesians 2:10 tells us we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

We have Jesus, and we are called to be transformed into His image. We are not called to be Jesus, just allow Him to be Himself through us. Our goal is to let Jesus be Jesus through us, through our uniqueness. While we are dependent on God to clarify His design in our lives, God truly wants us to know all He has prepared in advance for us. He truly desires us to know those good works and equip us to go do them!
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Our understanding of who we are, uniquely and as part of God’s family, is the foundation for a successful Christian walk. When we know who God created us to be, quirks and all, we can begin to clarify the purposes and visions for our lives.  

Word for the day: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10, ESV)


Prayer: Father, help me to accept all of who You made me to be, just as You accept me. Help me to reconcile my past, my quirks, my shattered dreams to the plans that You have for me. Thank You for choosing me. Thank You for hearing the cry of my heart before I spoke a word. Hear the “yes” in my heart for all you planned for my life. In Jesus’ name. Amen


​Author:  Anne Say

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