Check Your Thinking

Take a moment right now, and take a very deep breath, as you slowly exhale thank the Lord for allowing His peace to rule in your heart. Felt good, right? As we wrestle with our fears, frustrations and anxieties, it is helpful to do two things: daily cry out to the Lord (Pro 18:10), and every day crawl to throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace (Heb 4:15-16). What else can we do to stem the tide of panic, discouragement and isolation that we are experiencing during this never before seen in our lifetime pandemic,  injustice and social unrest?

What else can we do? Check our thinking. We can't just watch the news all day, saturate our minds with social media and let our thoughts have free reign in our minds. There was a National Science Foundation research article published in 2005,  which cited that the average person thinks somewhere between12,000 and 60,000 thoughts per day. We are almost always having a conversation with ourselves (our thought life). 

Unfortunately, 80% of these thoughts are negative. Not only are they negative, we think the same thoughts over and over again.  Crazy right? 95% of our thoughts are exactly the same thoughts from the day before, of which 80% are negative. So it's critical that we gird up the loins of our minds - I Pet 1:13. In other words, pull in our wandering thoughts. The imagery in this verse is of the long robes they wore during those times. Often they would pull in the flowing robes with a sash belt so they could walk freely without tripping. We must pull in our thoughts so they don't trip us up.

When it comes to our 12,000 thoughts a day,  we literally have to do two things: put each one under arrest and then put each one to the test. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of stronghold. Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ - II Cor 10:4-5. Yes we must arrest each thought and subject it to interrogation to see if it aligns with the Word of God, before we allow it to have free reign in our minds. Any thought that is inconsistent with what God says about Himself, what He says about us, His purposes or principles must be put out.

We are instructed in Phil 4:8 on how to test our thoughts: Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. If our thoughts aren't true, just, pure, honorable and wholesome, we need to put them out of our mind. One unchecked thought can send us somewhere we don't want to be mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and even physically.

Having to check 12,000 thoughts seems like an insurmountable task. The good news is if we bombard our minds with thoughts that bless, we can win the battle in our minds one thought at a time.  The Psalmist in Ps 94, states: when my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your comforts delight me - Ps 94:19(AMP).  Training ourselves to speak to ourselves in psalms, and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody in our hearts to Lord (Eph 5:19), will change the conversations we are having in our heads. In Psalm 77, the Psalmist vows: I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings - Ps 77: 12. 

During these crazy times we have to keep crying out to God, crawling to the throne of grace and checking our thinking.

crying, crawling and checking,
​Diane

p.s. lets work on filling our minds with the word of God, and speaking to ourselves in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, making melody in hearts unto the Lord. 

p.p.s. the battle in the mind is real. sometimes my thinking is so off, I find myself taking very long showers as I beg God to help me think His thoughts. I'm just saying... 

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