What's Been On Your Mind?

“It starts with a thought.  A thought is planted in your mind and then once it takes up residence in your mind, it then forms into an emotion.  Once it becomes an emotion, it then begins to travel throughout your body and eventually this emotion turns into an action.  Once you begin to continually perform this action, it then forms into a habit.  Once a habit is formed, it’s ultimately destined to turn into a behavior.  The behavior, which formed from the habit, came out of the continual action, and the action which was provoked by the emotion, all originally formed from…..the thought.” –Bishop Keith W. Reed

It’s crazy what can happen just from a single thought.  The mind truly is a powerful thing, and if we’re not careful with our thoughts we could end up doing a lot of damage in our lives.  A lot of things that weigh heavy on our hearts stem from a single thought.  Worry, doubt, fear, anger, confusion, disappointment…..the list goes on and on.  Ultimately these things come because there’s some type of disconnect between what WE think to be true and what the Word of God SAYS to be true.  Here’s a helpful hint that will probably help in almost every situation we face: EVERYTHING ISN’T ALWAYS WHAT IT APPEARS TO BE. If I could be real, the #1 mistake I make in almost every area of my life is I get a TINY glimpse at what God is doing in my life and then I hit the ground running with it!  I’m laughing as I write this because I can be so silly sometimes.  When I went through a rough patch with my previous job I prayed for God to open a door faithfully every single day for like 5 months straight.  (Now you might be like, “5 months…that’s it!?” but when you’re in a tight spot for even a week it could feel like an eternity).  I prayed this for 5 months and it seemed like God went ghost. 

“I’ve learned we have to test our thoughts.  Question where they came from.”

So one day I received a text from a friend out the clear blue sky who asked me if I would be interested in a communications position at his friend’s company.  He knew that was my major in college and decided he’d ask me if I was interested.  I thought, “WOW! I didn’t even tell him I was looking! This MUST be God!”  Now here is where a lot of us go wrong.  In a matter of seconds, the thought of getting this new position began to build up an emotion which then led me to start trying to figure out how I was going to tell my boss I was leaving and to figuring out how I was going to pack up everything off my desk and of course trying to calculate what my new salary would be….ALL BEFORE I EVEN APPLIED FOR THE POSITION!  Can we say psy-cho! Lol  All of this happened because of something I thought was for me.  Which it turned out…..it wasn’t.  In fact the same situation occurred several times again before I finally surrendered and said, “Lord, where is it You want me to be?”  I’ve learned we have to test our thoughts.  Question where they came from.  Was it something we desired for us, or was it something God desired for us.  We can’t just jump on the first thing we see just because it looks like it fits the description we’ve been praying for.  Amen somebody. 

“I found that He’s not as concerned with changing our situation as much as He’s concerned with changing us.”

I later learned that after a bunch of failed attempts and dead-ends that God wasn’t even asking me to apply to any of those jobs in the first place.  It wasn’t until I prayed that prayer and asked God where did He want me to be that I found out He wanted me to stay exactly where I was.  There are some things that God can only teach us in our tight places.  I found that He’s not as concerned with changing our situation as much as He’s concerned with changing us. My job was such a greater lesson than getting a new position.  During that tough waiting season, I learned to adjust my thinking.  Each time doubt, fear, worry and frustration begin to kick in…I began to turn those thoughts over to God.  I began to meditate on scripture instead of meditating on my own thoughts.  When we get our thoughts in alignment with God’s word we find that there’s less and less room for those type of emotions to dwell in your heart. 

All of our thoughts don’t always come from God or even ourselves, some of our thoughts are planted by the enemy.  He wants you to feel worry, confusion, disappointment and doubt.  That is why it is vital to measure what we’re thinking to what is in the Word.  Our thoughts can consume us and give us a false hope of reality but the Word of God makes everything plain.  Take a moment to give that “thing” that’s been on your mind the heaviest lately.  Ask yourself is what I’m thinking about drawing me closer to God or further from God? Get in the habit of testing your thoughts and whatever is not making sense, wait on God to make it clear to you.  It’s not God’s will for you to become dependent on what you think, His ultimate goal is for us to become dependent on Him.  Don't allow your thoughts to form the behavior of someone who always worries, doubts, and is fearful.  Instead of constantly dwelling on every little thought that hits your mind, attempt to keep your mind stayed on Him and in return He promises to give you perfect peace on each and every situation. 

-Leah

Bible Study
*For more on this subject check out the following scriptures:
Hebrews 4:12
Philippians 4:6-9
Psalm 26:2-3
Psalm 139:23-24
Isaiah 26:3