Your Thoughts Are Life
“For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, ‘Eat and drink!’ But his heart is not with you.” Proverbs 23:7 NASB
“In every adversity, there lies a seed of an equivalent advantage. Every defeat is a lesson, showing you how to win next time.” Robert Collier
Driven thoughts. White-knuckling. I was trying to reach my sales goal during a frightfully, cold January, which was filled with anxiety, nail-biting and despair. If I didn’t reach my goal, bills wouldn’t be paid, food wouldn’t be on the table and the car wouldn’t get fixed. Anxiety about the weather, circumstances, and rejections filled my mind. When driven, other behaviors and feelings consume me such as envy, revenge, and self-absorption. Let go and let God was the last thing on my mind. “Do not fear,” the phrase said over 365 times in the Bible, was not reality. Driven: short-temper, exhausted, helpless, and hopeless. All destructive thoughts. A despair spiral!
Thoughts of love. Irresistible! The first time I saw my son in the delivery room, I knew I would do everything possible to raise him with love, joy and enthusiasm. When I see tornadoes rip through our country or veterans in need, I am compelled to help. How many of you are compelled to rescue animals? Yes, I’m one. The heart and mind are focused on love.
Thoughts and prayer. When fear of the future or pain from the past envelops me, the first thing I think of is to pray—Not! Thinking I have control is so ingrained in me. There is so little we have control over. Asking for help in prayer is something I must practice over and over. The help I need is the Psalms. They help me pray because they are full of problems ending with victory and joy in Him.
Life gives us many opportunities to obsess and hurt ourselves. Memorizing 1: Peter 5:6-7 counsels us to humble ourselves and cast our anxiety onto the Father because He cares for us. Picture this! How does the Father show He cares? Jesus modeled His Father perfectly.
Musings
I don’t want my head and heart to live in fear, failure and loneliness. The Father promises to rescue us and give us an abundant life. Paul counseled us to use our minds for lovely, noble, pure, and admirable thoughts because as we think, we are. Good or bad. Joy or despair. Helpful or stuck.
Prayer
Dear Father,
When times are dark, tragic, or anxiety-filled, we forget to look upward with thanks. It is a lifetime practice. Today we will focus on what You want us to do with thanks. Jesus is our example through storms, rejections, and threats to His life and ours.
Amen.
Prayers and Musings of a Black Sheep 