I Almost Lost My Mind!
Daniel 4:34
At the end of the seven years, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked to heaven. I was given my mind back and I blessed the High God, thanking and glorifying God, who lives forever:
Do you remember when you were younger and you did something so stupid that your mother came in the room to ask you, “Have you lost your mind?!” What she was saying was that it appears by your behavior that you had a temporary lapse in your sanity, otherwise, you would not be acting like this.
There have been seasons in our lives where we too have had temporary lapses in our sanity. Maybe it’s been months; for some it’s been years. It’s amazing how fragile the human mind is. It’s something that we cannot take for granted. It makes more sense to me every day when I remember what the old folks used to say, “I thank God because when I woke up this morning I was clothed and in my right mind.” I’ve seen too many people lose their mind and lose their place in God. I’ve seen too many people who were doing well at one moment and then their lives took a complete turn for the worst. They were no longer the same person.
You can lose your mind to psychological trauma. When something you encounter tries to break your will. When you see some homeless people walking around talking to themselves or terrorizing people with their unusual behavior, what you don’t know is that behind that behavior many of those people used to be normal. Something happened that caused them to snap. After all you’ve been through it’s a miracle that you haven’t lost your mind. God kept you!
You can lose your mind by becoming detached from God by insisting on our own way. Hell has been described as a place where God let’s you have your way. Tim Keller said that the people who are already in hell would not come out even though they are being tormented because in their mind they have what they want. Hell begins little by little when we refuse God’s rule over our life and he eventually turns us over to a reprobate mind.
You can lose your mind when you think you are god and you think that you don’t need God. It’s dangerous when we think we are God and we are in control over our own lives. That’s the beginning when we lose our minds.
King Nebuchadnezzar refused to acknowledge God and began to take credit for what God did. He also oppressed the poor and ignored the warning of the prophet Daniel. As a result, God took away his sanity and caused him to crawl around like an animal, with his hair like eagle feathers and his nails like animal claws.
The good news is that he got his mind back! How?
1. At the end of time. The Message version says that it was seven years! Seven is the number of completion. I hope that it doesn’t take us that long to get back to a place where God restores our sanity but there is a set time that God gives each of us before we can get it together.
2. He raised his eyes toward heaven. He shifted his perspective back to God. Some of us have been so focused on the physical that we have missed the supernatural reality of God. It’s time to put our eyes back on God and take them off of the material.
3. God restored his sanity. God is the only one that can put us back in our right minds. When we surrender ourselves to God and accept Jesus as our savior, he will give us the mind of Christ. When Jesus healed the demoniac Mark says that he was sitting there, clothed, and in his right mind.
4. He Praised the Most High. King Nebuchadnezzar now realized that there was a Power higher than him. Every chance we get we need to Praise God for all that he has done.
5. He honored and glorified him who lives forever. There is a life after this one. King Nebuchadnezzar decided that he would honor God and glorify God with his new found life. He had lost seven years walking around like a crazy person, lost in his own thoughts and now that God had restored his sanity, he made a decision that I’m going to live my life for God now.
Dear God,
Restore my sanity. I’ve been here too long. I almost forgot who I was. My sin and my arrogance caused a temporary loss of sanity. I’m glad you’re a heart fixer and a mind regulator. Thank you for putting me back in my right mind. I have a mind to praise you! I have a mind to serve you! I have the mind of Christ!
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Daniel 4:34
At the end of the seven years, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked to heaven. I was given my mind back and I blessed the High God, thanking and glorifying God, who lives forever:
Do you remember when you were younger and you did something so stupid that your mother came in the room to ask you, “Have you lost your mind?!” What she was saying was that it appears by your behavior that you had a temporary lapse in your sanity, otherwise, you would not be acting like this.
There have been seasons in our lives where we too have had temporary lapses in our sanity. Maybe it’s been months; for some it’s been years. It’s amazing how fragile the human mind is. It’s something that we cannot take for granted. It makes more sense to me every day when I remember what the old folks used to say, “I thank God because when I woke up this morning I was clothed and in my right mind.” I’ve seen too many people lose their mind and lose their place in God. I’ve seen too many people who were doing well at one moment and then their lives took a complete turn for the worst. They were no longer the same person.
You can lose your mind to psychological trauma. When something you encounter tries to break your will. When you see some homeless people walking around talking to themselves or terrorizing people with their unusual behavior, what you don’t know is that behind that behavior many of those people used to be normal. Something happened that caused them to snap. After all you’ve been through it’s a miracle that you haven’t lost your mind. God kept you!
You can lose your mind by becoming detached from God by insisting on our own way. Hell has been described as a place where God let’s you have your way. Tim Keller said that the people who are already in hell would not come out even though they are being tormented because in their mind they have what they want. Hell begins little by little when we refuse God’s rule over our life and he eventually turns us over to a reprobate mind.
You can lose your mind when you think you are god and you think that you don’t need God. It’s dangerous when we think we are God and we are in control over our own lives. That’s the beginning when we lose our minds.
King Nebuchadnezzar refused to acknowledge God and began to take credit for what God did. He also oppressed the poor and ignored the warning of the prophet Daniel. As a result, God took away his sanity and caused him to crawl around like an animal, with his hair like eagle feathers and his nails like animal claws.
The good news is that he got his mind back! How?
1. At the end of time. The Message version says that it was seven years! Seven is the number of completion. I hope that it doesn’t take us that long to get back to a place where God restores our sanity but there is a set time that God gives each of us before we can get it together.
2. He raised his eyes toward heaven. He shifted his perspective back to God. Some of us have been so focused on the physical that we have missed the supernatural reality of God. It’s time to put our eyes back on God and take them off of the material.
3. God restored his sanity. God is the only one that can put us back in our right minds. When we surrender ourselves to God and accept Jesus as our savior, he will give us the mind of Christ. When Jesus healed the demoniac Mark says that he was sitting there, clothed, and in his right mind.
4. He Praised the Most High. King Nebuchadnezzar now realized that there was a Power higher than him. Every chance we get we need to Praise God for all that he has done.
5. He honored and glorified him who lives forever. There is a life after this one. King Nebuchadnezzar decided that he would honor God and glorify God with his new found life. He had lost seven years walking around like a crazy person, lost in his own thoughts and now that God had restored his sanity, he made a decision that I’m going to live my life for God now.
Dear God,
Restore my sanity. I’ve been here too long. I almost forgot who I was. My sin and my arrogance caused a temporary loss of sanity. I’m glad you’re a heart fixer and a mind regulator. Thank you for putting me back in my right mind. I have a mind to praise you! I have a mind to serve you! I have the mind of Christ!
In Jesus Name,
Amen
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