Thinking Differently

I don't know about you, but my mind has been one of my worst enemies at different seasons in my life.

No, not just because of my struggle with math.

Have you ever had a thought, a moment, or a subject that you absolutely hate to remember; yet your mind finds the worst times to focus on that very thing?

I can remember in Jr. High and High School having these really intense thoughts that I wish I could have erased. They were thoughts of self-hatred, shame, or a general despising of different parts of my personality. I hated when these thoughts would come flooding in, the moment they arrived I desperately wished they were gone.

In those teenage years, my tactic for avoiding these thoughts was to move at such a fast pace, to be so overly dramatic and loud, that it would drown out the thoughts I wanted to avoid.

It seemed to be a working model for a while.

Then it starting to become clear to me that the way I was acting, the persona I was portraying to the world, was completely wrapped up in my fear of these ugly thoughts.

I had become a person completely focused on avoidance. I couldn't stop or slow down, because the thoughts I had come to fear were always just two steps behind me.

I finally came to the realization that I had to face these fears, face these thoughts. I was wearing pretty thin. Truth is, I was so exhausted emotionally I just didn't care anymore.

During this time, God brought a Bible verse to my mind. You may have heard me reference it before.

2 Corinthians 10:5 "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."

Somewhere along the way, I started believing running from my negative thoughts was the best I could hope for.

I was wrong.

I had the answer all along. I was tired of being taken captive by each of these thoughts. So instead of letting these thoughts roam free in my mind, I needed to take each of them captive.

It may sound silly, but I pictured this whole process in my mind. Taking my thoughts captive, and locking them up. The great part was, I realized since I was the one locking them up, the only way the thoughts could come out, is if I let them out.

God never said in His Word, (the Bible) that life would be perfect. In fact it says pretty clearly that we will have valleys and mountains. We will have seasons of great things, and seasons of difficult things.

In Romans it says how we should respond to each of these seasons.

Romans 12:12 "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."

When affliction comes, it is easy to run. For me, it was especially easy to run. But God doesn't tell us to flee in affliction, He says be patient.

Allow me to encourage you with this. You have a lot more control over your thoughts than you give yourself credit for. If you can be patient, and take the time to try this, you will be glad you did.

If you have some fears, some memories, or some hurts, that have set up camp like an unwelcome guest in your mind; it's time to clean house.

Simply close your eyes, ask God for His help, and try this simple exercise.

Think for a moment on whatever thought that has been bothering you; now picture the ugliest, meanest, rustiest, looking cage your imagination can create. Then place that thought inside of that cage. Close the gate, and then place the galaxy's most durable padlock on that gate.

You don't need to run anymore. You don't need to distract yourself any longer.

Just choose to think a little differently, and remember you have the ability to take any thought captive.