Three Thoughts for the Thinker

Joyce Meyer once said, "Your thoughts form your behavior." And she's right. No matter how much we try to bottle them up, they come out. They have the power to destroy us, our relationships and those around us, if we aren't proactive.

I am an obsessive thinker, so this is a topic that I spend a lot of time on. I struggle with the many thoughts that swarm my head and have on more than one occasion believed the wrong ones to be true. For years, I believed I was stuck being the slave to my thoughts - I think it, thus I am trapped to it. But thinking thoughts isn't exactly the problem. The problem occurs when we dwell or act on those thoughts, and this is something we can control.

The past year of my life has brought me to terms with my biggest problem - my thinking. Once I began surrendering my thoughts to God's Word, He started revealing the flaws in my thinking and replacing them with these things. I don't think I am the only one who needs them, so I want to share them with you. I encourage you to say them to yourself as you read them. Say them every time you struggle with opposing thoughts. There is no better way to battle bad thoughts than to replace them with good ones.

1. I am loved by God, the most important person ever. He is far more capable of love than any one of us. Real, healthy and godly love would not and does not exist without Him. If He is not the center in my heart and relationships, I am unable to love. Healing is impossible without godly love. His love,  even if it's all I have, is enough. His love is heals. And it never changes because it's based on who He is, not what I do.
Look it up: Matthew 6: 26, I John 3: 1, Romans 8:37-39, John 3:16, I John 4:8

2. I am never really alone because God is always near. He promised never to leave or forsake His own and He honors His word regardless of what my emotions say. I may not always feel His presence but as a believer, I am guaranteed it. He talks to me and He listens. Nothing I tell him can drive him away. He even understands my pain because He suffered too. His presence is more fulfilling than any other, and is enough to fulfill me like no other.
Look it up: Exodus 33:14, Jeremiah 29:13, 2 Corinthians 12:9, 2 Corinthians 4:16-17, I John 4:4, Deuteronomy 31:8, Joshua 1:9, Isaiah 41:10

3. He makes all things work in my best interest even when I can't see it. He is the ultimate planner and knows what is best for me. Nothing that happens can stop Him from doing right by me. He knows what's best for me far better than I ever could. My circumstances never reflect powerlessness on His behalf, but His real glory. But I can't see if I don't intentionally look at it through lenses of faith. It all comes down to taking Him at His word.
Look it up: Jeremiah 29:11, Leviticus 26:13, Psalm 37:23-24, Romans 8:28

We learn early in life not to trust others with our thoughts because we live in a culture that is afraid to be real. We're so hard on one another. But we need to know that we don't have to let our thoughts rule us and we don't have to hide in the dark. We believers can have victory over this stuff if we have the faith to pursue it before our thoughts destroy us.

Fight the good fight and finish the race, my dear friends. Don't let this world make you forget how big your God is. We're just passing through.

Hanging On To Letting Go

I have this struggle. Of course I have many, but this one that keeps causing me so much heartache and pain that I have been forced to rethink it. I have a hard time letting go of what I cannot fix or change. Even more so, I have trouble knowing when something is mine to fix or whether I am usurping God's role. I have some faulty connections in my thinking that God has been in the process of healing. They do not stretch my faith and they are not mine to carry. I am learning to let go.

Sometimes, I find myself believing that by doing the right thing, my relationships will get better. But sometimes they don't, so I kick into overdo it mode. Instead of accepting that doing the right thing doesn't guarantee good relationships, I keep trying to fix it. My faulty expectations dirty up my good works. Now, this is not always my motive, but I've noticed that it's always the case when I come out disappointed. I would like to say that the things is my heart are always pure, but my actions ultimately speak of my true beliefs.

It's good to want great relationships and peace and harmony but the fact is I cannot change anyone else's heart. It's good to love others, but unhealthy motives gone unchecked can cause loads of disappointment on both ends. This doesn't mean I should just give up, but that I have to rely on God more than I presently do. How can I say that God is good if I keep trying to fix things myself?

I realize I'm not the only one who struggles with this mindset. As far back as Adam and Eve, we humans have an unhealthy desire to be autonomous. We like to think we have all we need to change our surroundings and we alone are enough to do it. We don't ask God and we darn sure don't think we have the time to wait on Him because think we have to do what we do. And we think we're somehow entitled to good relationships if we serve Him, but that's not true. 

Come to think of it, I've rarely ever seen godly change take place simply because we humans have trouble letting go of the idea we can fix or change ourselves and one another. Even though that change never really happens, we just keep doing what we do because we're either too afraid of change, we don't know another way, we have too much pride to surrender or we want our own way on our own time more than anything else.  

God loves it when we lay down our so-called "right" to fix things, determined to wait on Him. He is teaching me that giving it to Him doesn't mean I quit but that I stop worrying about it and trust Him to do with it what He knows to be best. It's only right that I serve Him without expecting anything in return. Practicing this gives me the sense of freedom He desires for all of us because without peace, we're just bound up in chains of some kind.