Some years ago my family had a holiday near the Swiss border and spent a day at the Labyrinth Maze at Evionnaz:
Apparently, this is the world’s largest natural labyrinth, being over three kilometres in length and lined by 18,000 trees; it was certainly intricate and interesting, and the hot summer’s day was helped by water jets positioned in the maze which would unexpectedly cool you down! Closer to home, the Maize Maze at Cawthorne offers fun for all the family from July through to the beginning of September.
One of the most famous mazes is at Hampton Court, planted in the late 17th century for William III:
Personally, I don’t really like mazes very much. This is probably due to my poor sense of direction and general impatience; I also don’t like the feelings of helplessness and loss of control which mazes engender. I often think that the mind is rather like a maze. Sometimes, our thoughts become fixed on a certain path and it can be very difficult to re-direct them, even when we realise that our thoughts are not helping us.
It’s easy to become lost in a maze and to end up travelling down the same paths, ending at the same dead ends. Similarly, we can often end up thinking the same negative thoughts or wandering down hypothetical trains of thought which are devoid of grace (because they’re not real situations!) It requires commitment, perseverance, imagination and sheer doggedness to keep going in a maze, and so often, we have to be prepared to allow our thought life to be controlled by God rather than walking down the same neural pathways, allowing the same situations/ people/ ideas to trigger the same reactions in us. Two Scriptures I return to constantly in training my thoughts are:
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. (Rom 12:2)
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor 10:5)
Transformation starts with a renewed mind, taking captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Instead of pursuing the same path and battering at the same dead ends, we have to turn around (repent) and try different routes, asking God by His Spirit to guide and direct our thoughts and refusing to allow wrong thinking to find a nesting place in our hearts. Every loose thought and emotion and impulse has to be fitted into the structure of life shaped by Christ. (The Message)
Usually, at the centre of a maze, there is something to be discovered; there are often prizes for reaching the centre! The reward for right thinking is knowing God’s good, pleasing and perfect will and a deeper knowledge of God. It’s worth persisting in this mind maze, learning to think according to God’s Spirit rather than allowing our sinful natures to control the way we think, and therefore ultimately, act.