The Battleground of the Mind
Guarding your mind when life interrupts your calling.
The Silence and the Guilt
When life takes an unexpected, demanding turn, leadership can often look less like standing at a podium or publishing a post, and more like stepping back to serve in the quiet, unseen spaces of everyday life.
At the beginning of June my husband fell ill. In the wake of that crisis, the frequency of my writing was seriously interrupted, leaving me feeling like I’d become a disappointment not only to myself for not being able to keep up, but to you, my readers.
As Kingdom leaders and writers, we’re driven by a deep sense of purpose. So, when unforeseen circumstances force us to step back, if we’re not careful, the feelings of letting people down, and a heavy disappointment in ourselves can all too easily settle in.
As I sat with the Lord examining those feelings, I realized something vital.
That sense of failure and disappointment I was experiencing wasn’t a conviction from the Holy Spirit, it’s a spiritual attack on my mind.
Paul reminds us of the true nature of this battle:
Ephesians 6 v 12
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (NKJV)
The Enemy’s Strategy: Weaponizing Your Calling
If you are called to be a Kingdom leader and writer, the enemy knows he may not be able to stop your assignment permanently, so instead he’ll try to disrupt your peace of mind.
When you must pause to care for a sick loved one, or manage some other personal crisis, the enemy immediately seeks to exploit the situation.
He tries to convince you that your absence or silence is disobedience, and that your temporary pause is a sign of failure.
That’s why we must take care of our minds by setting godly boundaries around them.
A boundary is a fence of protection. Just as we set boundaries around our time or our schedules, we must establish strict boundaries for what we allow our minds to believe about ourselves during seasons of interruption.
Truths to Secure Your Mental Boundaries
To build a firm boundary of protection against the enemy’s whispers of condemnation, you must anchor your thoughts in what God says about you, not in what our performance-driven world dictates.
The enemy loves to use worldly standards to measure Kingdom assignments.
So remember this:
God Knows Your Heart and Your Circumstances: He does not look at your temporary lack of output and see a lack of faith, or a spirit of disobedience. He sees your heart, and He is not caught off-guard by your present circumstances. He had already factored them in when He called you in the first place.
God’s Plan Cannot Be Disrupted: A temporary interruption in your schedule does not mean an interruption in God’s sovereignty or His plan for your life. His timeline is bigger than your publishing deadline or ministry schedule.
Rest is Not Rebellion: Take the unexpected time away from your ministry to recharge your own spiritual batteries. God often uses the forced pauses of life to deeply replenish the well we draw from to lead others.
There is NO condemnation in Christ Jesus.
To help you understand this, I’ll share the story of a gentleman I once took care of.
He had dementia and in his younger days he had been a captain in the British army.
It was the rule that his carer would report for duty at 08:00 am every morning.
When I came on duty, I would often find him standing just outside my door with his stopwatch in hand, ready to knock on the door at 08:00 am sharp. 😊
God does not stand over a struggling leader with a stopwatch, demanding to know why she’s late.
Instead He patiently waits for us to regain our footing, offering us the grace to step back into our calling when we are ready.
Your Greatest Weapon: A Renewed Mind
The only way to sustain godly boundaries is through the radical renewing of our minds.
Romans 12 v 2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed (into the image and likeness of God) by the renewing of your mind …
We must actively replace the world’s definition of productivity with the Kingdom’s definition of faithfulness.
Then we’ll be able to replace the waves of anxiety and disappointment that threaten to overwhelm us with the word of God.
Even as I was writing this, Father reminded me of the following verses:
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you...” (Isaiah 43:2) — Even in the stress and chaos of caring for a loved one, or whatever other crises you are facing, He is present.
“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me...” (Psalm 23:4) — The valley of interruption is not a sign that you’ve abandoned your calling, rather it’s a place of shepherding. A time when Father wants to remind you that you’re not alone and you need not fear condemnation (evil).
Scripture also reminds us that:
“My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.” (Isaiah 55:8).
Our human thoughts say, “If you aren’t producing, you must be failing.”
God’s thoughts say, “I will work all things out for your good because you love Me and are called according to My purpose.”
Leading from a Renewed Mind
My fellow writers and leaders, in the new life in Christ, we’ve been given the mind of Christ.
Because we have the ability to think the way He thinks, keeping our minds fixed on what above and not below, let’s use it to reject the enemy’s narrative of failure.
If you have been forced to take a step back recently due to unforeseen circumstances, I invite you to take a moment and breathe.
Guard your thoughts by setting godly boundaries.
Your calling hasn’t been lost; it’s simply being protected while you serve where you’re needed most right now.
When you take care of your mind by setting godly boundaries, you’ll find that the pause wasn’t a waste, but could very well be God’s way of recharging your batteries or preparing you for something greater.