Thinking back to my early walk with my Lord, some scriptures puzzled me. One such passage was found in Psalm 139:23-24. Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. ‘Why would the psalmist ask God such a thing?’ I wondered. After all, our minds are usually inside our brains, I reasoned. Isn’t that normal? So why would the psalmist need God to tell him what he was thinking? Wouldn’t he already know if a hurtful way was there?
Another scripture I did not quite understand was 2 Corinthians 10:5. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. I took this to mean ‘If a bad thought crosses your mind, stop it!’ It is definitely important to stop thinking evil thoughts. In Ph 4:8 we are told to let our mind dwell on what is good, right, worthy, etc. which will happen as we take in God’s Word. I learned that praying would help me to capture the enemy’s ideas and make them serve God’s purposes instead. If I was tempted to covet, I started to pray blessings over the person who owned whatever I wished was mine. If an inappropriate thought crossed my mind regarding someone of the opposite sex, I quickly started to pray for every marriage I could think of. Capturing the thoughts that the enemy inspires and making them serve as an inspiration to pray is certainly a good thing, but it actually is not what 2 Corinthians 10:5 is specifically talking about.
Look at 2 Corinthians 10:5 again. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing. Speculate is defined as: to assume; to take to be true on the basis of insufficient evidence. As for lofty, I will give you my definition: a know it all, holier than thou, high horsed, “I can accomplish things in the kingdom that someone else cannot” attitude. I believe this scripture can refer both to what we teach and how we live our personal lives. I am going to reluctantly share an example from my walk with God where the principles of Psalm 139:23-24 and 2 Corinthians 10:5 rescued me from very foolish, extremely dangerous attitudes that as a new believer, I was totally blind to.
A couple who were friends of mine were facing a dilemma. The husband believed the Lord wanted him to quit his job and go into full time ministry, but the wife was very negative about it. He obviously was gifted and loved the Lord. I believed that he was right on track and that she would come around over time to see that, but I was afraid it would take her too long for him to start classes. I figured she was not
strong enough in the Lord yet, so I took it upon myself to ‘help things along’ by constantly encouraging him and praying with him. I was thrilled to see my friend step out in faith. We often talked for long periods of time together about God. He was on my mind more and more, but always in pure and positive ways.
One day I overheard two women talking. One made the comment, “If someone of the opposite sex is on your mind constantly, the devil is setting a trap for you” I thought that was so dumb. However, her comment haunted me for the next couple days, so I mentioned it to God. “That isn’t true, is it!” I said to Him. His response: If it isn’t true, why does the thought of not being with him bother you so much? I
felt convicted and heart sick when the Holy spirit spoke that into my life. He spoke more too. I had been arrogant and was trying to do what He alone could do. I had been unfair to his wife by negating the importance of her feelings. I was misusing my gifting as an encourager in an unhealthy way. God showed me how I had been duped by my own assumptions and pride. Thankfully, He forgave me. He also taught me that asking Him about my heart would help me to be less ‘dupe-able’ in the future.