The Smoke Has Cleared

“And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind”… Ephesians 4:23 (AMP)

The past couple of weeks have been strange here in Michigan.

Smoke from the Canadian wildfires drifted into our state and settled over us for days. Some mornings the sun looked more orange than yellow, and the air quality reports warned us to stay inside. We couldn’t see the smoke as much after a while, but we could certainly feel its effects.

My wife, Donna, was especially affected by the whole situation.

If you know Donna, you know she loves having the windows open. As soon as spring arrives, she’s throwing open every window in the house. She loves the fresh breeze moving through the rooms, the smell of clean air, and especially hearing the birds sing in the morning. There’s just something about an open window that makes a house feel alive.

But not during those smoky days.

The windows stayed shut.

And we waited.

Then finally everything changed.

The smoke was gone.

Almost before I knew it, Donna was walking through the house opening windows. Fresh air rushed in. Curtains began to move. The birds could be heard again. It was as if the whole house breathed a sigh of relief.

As I watched her, the Lord quietly whispered something to my heart.

How long has it been since you’ve opened the windows of your mind?

Paul writes, “Be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind.”

I’ve read those words many times, but this time they landed differently.

Sometimes life fills our minds with smoke.

Disappointments we didn’t expect.

Conversations we can’t stop replaying.

News that steals our peace.

Unanswered prayers.

The pressure of responsibilities.

Before long, the atmosphere of our thinking begins to change. We don’t necessarily notice it happening. We simply find ourselves thinking more negatively, worrying more often, expecting less, trusting less, and carrying around a heaviness that was never meant to become our normal.

I’ve discovered that smoke doesn’t have to be visible to affect the air you breathe.

Neither do the thoughts we allow to linger in our minds.

Paul doesn’t tell us to grit our teeth and think happier thoughts. He says to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. That’s something much deeper.

God wants to change the atmosphere of our thinking… the foundation of our thought process.

He wants to replace fear with faith.

Confusion with clarity.

Bitterness with grace.

Anxiety with peace.

Not by ignoring reality, but by helping us see reality through His presence and His promises.

The fresh air doesn’t come from trying harder.

It comes from opening the windows.

Every time I open God’s Word, I’m opening a window.

Every time I stop long enough to pray instead of panic, I’m opening a window.

Every time I choose worship over worry, forgiveness over resentment, or gratitude over complaint, another window opens, and the Spirit of God begins clearing out the stale air I’ve been breathing.

The Holy Spirit has a way of changing not just what I think, but how I think. That’s what Paul means by being renewed in the spirit of our minds. He changes the climate of our hearts before He changes our circumstances.

Watching Donna throw open those windows reminded me that she wasn’t creating the fresh air.

She was simply making room for it.

That’s our part too.

We don’t manufacture spiritual renewal. We make room for it.

Maybe you’ve been living with the windows closed for longer than you realize. Maybe the smoke of disappointment, fear, anger, or exhaustion has become so familiar that you’ve forgotten what fresh air feels like.

Can I encourage you today?

The smoke has cleared.

Throw open the windows.

Open God’s Word.

Spend time in His presence.

Sit quietly long enough to hear His voice again—like hearing the birds after days of silence.

Ask God what he wants you to know. Then what he wants you to do.

Listen and respond.

Then let the fresh wind of the Holy Spirit do what only He can do.

Renewing the spirit of your mind is intentionally opening your life each day to the fresh air of God’s presence until His way of thinking becomes more natural than your old way of thinking.

Open the windows.

The fresh air is waiting.