trbccoffeebreak

“Search me O God and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts.”  Psalm 139:23 (ESV)

What does one do on a rainy Sunday afternoon? Well, to be honest I could think of lots of things to enjoy like watching a movie while nibbling on popcorn, reading a book or meeting up with a friend at Starbucks. None of those made my list – instead, I cleaned out our storage room or better known as the junk room. You know, it’s the place where everything lands when you have no place to put them, i.e., extra paper towels, gift bags, light bulbs. I think you get the picture. Needless to say, our junk room had gotten pretty junky. This summer girl will not spend time inside while the sun is shining.

Two hours later plus a lot of persistence landed me a clean, tidy room and no stumbling over boxes on the floor. Amazing how much stuff accumulates so fast. A bag full of trash discarded and two bags of books out of the house  – loving my clean space – just hoping I keep it that way.

How did such a mess happen? It’s simple – laziness and carelessness overrode neat and tidy. Basically, excuses for not putting things away that needed to be put away or throwing out what needed to be trashed.

Don’t know about you, but our minds can often land in this place of sheer clutter and messiness. Lots of thoughts run rampant between our ears every moment of every day. Our brains are a three pound universe that processes 70,000 thoughts each day using 100 billion neurons that connect at more than 500 trillion points through synapses that travel 300 miles/hour (Cleveland Clinic). And that, sweet friends makes my head really spin.

What thoughts are roaming through our minds today?

Doubt and deception are two key tools our enemy loves to swirl in our minds. Doubts about our worth and value. Doubts about God’s promises, faithfulness and goodness. Doubts centered around God’s word. Doubts about the giftings God purposed for our lives. Deception about the consequences of sin. Deception zeroed in on the lies of Satan disguised as truth concealing his true agenda to kill, steal and destroy.

Sweet friends that’s just two of the enemy’s tactics to seize and manipulate our attention. Negativity, worry, jealousy, rehearsals of injustices, envy, strife, hatred, fear….the list is endless. All those thoughts running wild making connections and influencing decisions in ways we never thought we would. Broken records on repeat.

While the enemy seeks to destroy, our God seeks to renew and re-route (Romans 12:2). By strategically creating new thought patterns centered on the word of God, we can bring our thoughts under the submission of what glorifies God(Colossians 3:2). By surrendering to the Spirit’s leading, we can resist our tendencies to allow random, unhealthy thoughts to run wild (I Corinthians 3:16). By filling our minds with thoughts of our mighty God, we will be victorious and experience His amazing peace (Isaiah 26:3, Romans 8:6).

Sweet friends let’s not be the ones who allow anything to fill our minds. Let’s not be lazy or careless. Let’s not settle for old thoughts that have never served us well. Our God made us in His image with a beautifully created mind designed to glorify Him – let’s not allow the world’s thinking to cloud or distort His amazing work in us.

“Father, when unhealthy thoughts begin to swirl in my mind help me to shift my focus upward and trust in Your peace over all things in my life.”

For His Glory

Janet Martin
TRBC Women’s Life