Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

–Parallel verses:
Romans‬ ‭7:18-19, 21-25‬ For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

What is God’s will for my life? How does this intersect with his will for my city, my state, this world, etc. When I think I am operating in the center of God’s will, and then “the rug gets pulled out from underneath me”, does that mean God’s will changed?

You may wrestle with similar questions as I have from time to time in life. Sometimes it seems as if when things just get on a really good roll in life, all of the sudden — there is an attack or a change.

So I have decided to understand this verse as a) it applies to just seeking God’s will in the moments, instead of b) seeking why God’s will seems to change, or c) why it does not always align with my plans while I am serving him.

I think part of the lesson the Lord is trying to teach me here is the difference between how the world operates verses how a servant of God is called to operate. We see in the Romans 7 passage the Apostle Paul’s clear struggle with this battle within. He wants to act righteously, but his sinful nature keeps wanting him to act sinfully. This battle is alive in every one of us.

So Romans 12 tells us there are two different types of operating systems at play: 1) the system of conformity to the world and its ways, and 2) the system of transformation that God calls us into and he provides for the true believer. The world expects us to conform to its selfish and destructive ways. God calls us to be transformed by his Spirit into his grace. The battle for our hearts and the resulting attitudes, priorities, and actions — IT IS ON! Conformity does not always mean leaving our Christian faith entirely, though that is a part of it. But it also can look like responding to unfairness as the world does or expecting and demanding the world act as God calls us to act. In reality, we are called to seek and save the lost. In order to do this we must live in an unfair, messy world, with, at times, unfair and messy work or home situations. But in life, God reigns over all. So as we face these challenges and struggles, we must realize he is in control and his will is still at work. We must run to him and lean on his grace and mercy and gain his perspective. In essence, we must go through “Mind Transformation” sometimes on an hourly or daily basis. This Mind Transformation, over time, redevelops our responses and attitudes to the world, to be more like those Jesus would have. We reflect him better and better.
Lord, I thank you for the Mind Transformation you have given to me today. You have the peace I need in the moments of life.
Thanks.