Bittersweet

The big decision

'Amen' resounded throughout the auditorium.

"As you speak to us this morning, we shall obey you."

"Amen," Aaron said quietly.

"We shall do your will." Another resounding 'amen'.

"Thank you, Father, glory to your name, in Jesus name we pray."

"Amen." The entire congregation echoed.

"This morning, I want to open your eyes to another thing, 'How you can receive healing for a sick mind'."

Aaron looked at Sarah by his side and saw her jotting away on her notebook, so were Noah and Judy.

He was glad she'd told him to bring a jotter and a pen to jot down important points from the message.

He turned his attention back to the jotter in his hand and began taking notes as well.

"The mind or the heart can be likened to a 'generating room'."

"The mind generates wisdom, it also generates faith. It is the mind that generates wickedness and also fears." The pastor began.

"Your mind is the powerhouse of your life." Aaron listened very intently.

"What you say out shows the state of your mind. The way you act and the way you react shows the state of your mind."

"What is another thing the mind can be likened to? The mind could be likened to a garden capable of accommodating various kinds of things."

"Different kinds of thoughts will enter, the good ones and the bad ones. Just like you have a garden and plant some things in it but some things sprout that isn't just useful to you."

"For example, when you plant only maize and you discover other weeds are growing with it, what do you do?"

"You uproot it." He answered himself.

Aaron felt in more ways than one that the sermon was talking about him. How he had allowed his mind to be plagued by several destabilizing thoughts, how he had given room to all sorts of wrong thoughts.

"Why? So that the ones you planted can grow beautifully."

"So beloved, your mind could be likened to a garden, so many unwanted weeds can spring forth, you are the one who will determine what stays and what must go." The Pastor looked up and smiled.

"If you're with me, someone shouts hallelujah."

The congregation echoed.

Aaron couldn't shout 'hallelujah', he was stunned at the pastor's words.

He remembered how the demon would whisper sick things into his head and how he had believed them and those beliefs simply grew till his entire mind was poisoned.

He exhaled shakily.

He felt someone hold his hand, he turned his head in surprise only to see Sarah holding his hand but she wasn't looking at him, her eyes were focused on the altar, at the pastor.

He held on tighter and turned his attention back to the man of God.

"What else can we liken the mind to? The mind can be likened to a battlefield, a battlefield where the battle of life is fought and won."

"You know if you don't have a sound mind, I want to tell you beloved, you cannot win the battle of life. Your thinking determines what you say out."

"Your thinking determines your reaction, it determines whether you're going to make it to the end or you're not going to make it to the end."

"So I liken your mind to the battlefield, where the battle of life is won and lost.