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by Rhonda Rhea @RhondaRhea

I accidentally bought the highest fiber crackers recently. After crunching for a few crackly seconds, then a few (crunch, crackle, ouch) more, I started wondering if I might’ve accidentally taken a big ol’ bite of…wicker. 

A Triscuit a trasket, I think I ate a basket.

Okay, mainly kidding. It mostly just reminded me of the time someone gave me homemade granola. Pretty sure it was primarily tree bark. Earthy. But like honest-to-goodness earth. You know, dirt. Watch out for those granola recipes. It’s all good fun until you’re eating soil and trees. 

I’ll admit, though, I’m having fun imagining the marketing. Me, in my most enthusiastic marketing voice: “Comes in three high-fiber flavors: Wicker basket, tree dirt, and for you sports lovers, astroturf!” 

I know I’m a terrible person, but I’d still rather market it than eat it. Eating turf will always be a battle. Could we call that a turf war?

I try to remind myself often of the altogether different kind of turf war going on inside my mind. My flesh and the Spirit are waging battles regularly. Goofy flesh. It all too often thinks it knows best, and it goes to war, battling to control my emotions, my focus—even my goals and purposes. Not only is my goofy flesh waging the battle, outside influences often seek to sway my thoughts and intentions and my trust in God. We live in a world under a sin curse. We’re not exactly fighting on home turf, astro- or otherwise.

The good news? The battle belongs to the Lord. The battlefield is the mind, the weapons are supernatural. “For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:3-4 CSB).

I had to chuckle when I read how The Message phrases part of that passage. “The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

Not really for marketing. The God-tools are for goofy-flesh-philosophy-fighting, along with the smashing of errant thoughts, emotions, and impulses (watch out for the worldly recipes for cooking those up), and for the building of a Christ-shaped life. 

Victory on the battlefield of the mind happens as the mind is shaped by, dependent on, and trusting in, our triune God—and victory in battle equals peace. “You will keep the mind that is dependent on you in perfect peace, for it is trusting in you” (Isaiah 26:3 CSB). Paul asserts it again in Romans 8. “Now the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6 CSB). Fleshy mind? Death. An honest-to-goodness dirt-nap.

The mindset of the Spirit? “Life and peace.” I want that Christ-shaped life and peace. With every wicker of my being. I mean fiber. Every fiber of my being.

Rhonda Rhea is an award-winning humor columnist for great magazines such as HomeLife, Leading Hearts, The Pathway, and many more. She is the author of 19 books, including the popular romantic comedies co-authored with her daughter Kaley Rhea, Off-Script & Over-Caffeinated and Turtles in the Road. Rhonda and Kaley have also teamed up with Bridges TV host Monica Schmelter for the Messy to Meaningful books and TV projects. Along with Beth Duewel, Rhonda writes the Fix Her Upper series, and she also co-authored Unruffled: Thriving in Chaos with Edie Melson. She speaks at conferences and events from coast to coast, serves on many boards and committees, and stays busy as a publishing consultant. Rhonda says you can find her living near St. Louis drinking too much coffee and snort-laughing with her pastor/husband, five grown children, and a growing collection of the most exceptional grandbabies.