When the Heart Leads, the Mind Follows
When my heart is clean, my head is more perceptive. When my heart is clean, I think more clearly. I can see better, and I can hear better. Before Pentecost, Peter never understood the Cross; when Jesus told him that he must suffer, Peter rebuked him. For Peter, the Cross seemed wrong. He could not think like Jesus thought. However, on the day of Pentecost, Peter came out of the upper room anointed with the Spirit, looked at the crowd and said, “Let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say” (Acts 2:14). Suddenly Peter saw the Cross as the fulfillment of the Scriptures. He knew the Cross was right.
Human minds are always servants. If they are servants of self-interest, then they will seek to justify self-interest. If they are wholly possessed by God, then they become his servants. Then they can understand his ways; they can see his truth.
George Mueller had been a Christian for four years. One evening he came to a place of total surrender. In the next four hours, Mueller explained, he learned and understood more of Scripture than he had in the preceding four years of his Christian life. We must be totally surrendered in order to see God’s ways. If our hearts are divided, we will have a divided head. If God possesses our whole hearts, then our minds will become instruments of his Spirit.
—Dennis Kinlaw,
This Day with the Master
Clarity of mind begins with surrender of heart. As Dennis Kinlaw shows through Peter’s transformation and George Mueller’s awakening, it is only when our hearts are fully yielded to God that our minds become truly perceptive. Apart from surrender, even the most sincere beliefs can be clouded by self-interest and misunderstanding. But when God possesses us wholly—heart and mind—we begin to see as He sees, think as He thinks, and understand what once seemed incomprehensible. If you’re confused or spiritually stuck today, consider this: maybe it’s not more information you need, but more surrender. Let God cleanse and claim your heart—your mind will follow. —DH
—David Hoskins, Founder & Care Guide, Sanctuary Clinics