During this time of heightened anxiety and separation from family and church, it’s so important to take care of our thinking.
So much of how we feel from day to day is connected with how we think. The constant stream of troubling news, social media’s insistence that everyone else’s life is better than yours and the separation from friends, family and church have all conspired to convince us that life is overwhelmingly fragile and uncertain. Our minds can reflect all these influences. For many, the inner peace we crave is a distant memory.
However, there is a great reason to hope, to always be lead and find refuge in God himself:
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
Psalm 4:1-3
David knew more than most what it was to be afraid and uncertain - his life was frequently in danger, powerful men pursuing him, wanting him dead and treating him with contempt and disdain.
The psalms are David expressing the truth about God so that he could hear that truth from his own lips. David is honest about how he feels, even using hyperbole to express his inner thoughts. (The mountains are not literally falling into the sea - but we all know how this feels)
The apostle Paul also knew the importance of a mindset on God’s truth and goodness.
Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
Romans 8 v 5-6…..we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
2 Corinthians 10 v 5
Just as David does in the psalms and Paul instructs it can be both powerful and helpful to express the truth of God’s power and love on our own words, internally in our minds and externally. Hearing truth about God from our own lips.
This encouragement from Grace does this exceptionally well. It’s full of truth about God, wonderfully expressed on her own words.
"Whether we can see it now or not, God is working. The God of our joy is the God who holds us when we are scared. By His steadfast love, we are set free from the chains holding us. We have the Holy Spirit’s power to break free, to live by FAITH and not by fear! We are not slaves to the words binding us in chains, God takes that burden and sets us free! Through Him we are ABLE, so will we willingly cast off anxiety and let go of the yoke of slavery, to work and rest HIS way?! Today will we choose to walk by Him? To stand by His affirming truths, and to walk without the weight of fear. We are free to live by God's bigger picture, let's choose to live each day for eternity!" - Grace White
Thank you, Grace, for your example.
Why not try something similar?