What Is Your Mind Stayed Upon?
Do you find yourself exhausted? Do you find yourself restless? Do you find that in times of supposed rest and relaxation your mind is racing from one thought to another, unable to shut off? Are you in search of peace but just cannot seem to find it? There are so many things to occupy our mind and our thoughts, and it truly is hard to turn them off. I know, I am one of those people.
I had a stroke about 100 days ago and my injured brain continues on its quest to heal and re-wire itself. As part of my recovery journey, to not overload my brain and totally frustrate myself, I have needed to be very intentional about focusing on only one thing at a time. As I work on improving my focus and attention, memory, processing, problem-solving, and multi-tasking by using cognitive strategies, it takes tremendous effort and energy just to complete a single task from beginning to end. So, when one of those not the task at hand thoughts begins to enter my mind, I am having to say to myself, “No no no, I am thinking about what I am doing right now, I will think about you later.” To help me to help my brain, I must stay attuned to what I am doing at that moment.
Let me ask you – as you go about your day, thinking all the things you think, or as you roll around restless and sleepless during the night, is your mind attuned to God? In Isaiah 26:3 we find this promise, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed upon you, because he trusts in you.”
Bible translations (ESV, NASB, KJV, and others) that tend to be literal in their word-to-word adherence to the original language use the word stayed; not a word we regularly use in modern language. Translations (NIV, NLT, RSV, and others) that strive to convey the meaning of the text rather than its original form, called thought-for-thought, tend to use language more common to today – “whose minds are steadfast” (NIV) or “whose thoughts are fixed upon you” (NLT). The third translation method is paraphrase, of which the most familiar would The Message and The Living Bible.
That word stayed comes from a Hebrew word that literally means “to prop, or to lean, lay, rest, support,” or in other words, settled upon. In my study of the Hebrew word samak (stayed in Isaiah 26:3 above), I find several other usages, here is just two – we will be sustained (Psalm 3:5), we will be upheld (Psalm 71:6). Matthew 22:37 tells us, “You shall love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” We are also instructed to not set our minds on earthly things, but rather, on things that are above (Colossians 3:2). And if we allow ourselves to be, we can have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16) and be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).
If we keep our minds stayed upon Yahweh, we are promised perfect peace. Perfect peace is not a life free from turmoil or struggle or conflict. In John 16:33, Jesus tells us that life is full of things to worry about or keep us up at night. So then, just what is this perfect peace we are promised? This peace is not tangible or visible, but rather, it is a gift offered to us by Jesus that soothes our heart, mind, and soul in those times of trouble that He said we would have. As Jesus was saying his earthly goodbye to his disciples, we find these words in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts (and I parenthetically add minds and souls) be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
Isn’t it true that we keep our minds stayed upon whatever or whoever we trust? So, today and every day, and every night, will you strive to keep your mind stayed upon the LORD?
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