When thoughts assail me…
The biggest battles are in the mind. A fight to choose to stop what I’m thinking and to ask God “what do You think?” And then to trust that His thoughts are way smarter than mine so it would do me well to just drop my thoughts. Of course not all my thoughts—that’d be impossible or lazy.
But you know what thoughts need to be cut out.
The ones that are toxic: complaints, comparisons, and criticism.
Just kick them out!
And I ask God to redirect my mind.
But they always come back to assail me!
They come back again and again and I have to go to God again and again.
A lot of the times my battles are when I feel my mind beginning to harbor a complaint. I see something (ie: my husband not doing something I expected him to do) and then suddenly I can think of 10 other things he doesn’t do that bother me.
Or when I begin to compare my life with someone else then envy or entitlement set in and I’ve lost my joy.
Or when I begin to be critical of something or someone, then I cannot see them as a person.
These are the kinds of thoughts that need to be kicked out as soon as they assail me.
And they put up quite a fight.
It’s exhausting.
I would much rather entertain them so that I wouldn’t have to work so hard to change my mind, but if I did that then I wouldn’t be doing what God wants.
I would be choosing to go against what God has shown me in His word to be true.
God has given us the way to live but we must choose His way even if it is tedious and tiresome.
So, what are the kinds of thoughts that I am supposed to have?
“Rejoice in the Lord always.
I will say it again: Rejoice!
Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise — dwell on these things.”
Philippians 4:4, 8
Having the kind of mind described in the passages above is not easy. I can really only have that mind when I am close with God, filled with God’s love for me and just humbly reminded of how He has carried me in my darkest moments and forgave me.
Humility is the only way to have the mind of Christ and ultimately it is the only way to have the ability to boot out the three contaminating “C’s”: complaints, comparisons, and criticism.
And humility happens when I step into the presence of God.
I need to be close to God so that His truth would humble me and help me fight those thoughts that assail me every moment of every day.
Humility. Humility. Humility.
When the thoughts assail me, my battle is to draw closer to God and be humbled. I tend to make myself to be much better than i really am.
But I am sinful, saved by grace and called to be an ambassador for Christ by spreading grace to others.
My heart must remember to be about His will and not my own.
Gos knows. He sees my heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment