Think About Your Thinking!

When I was a kid, I worried. A LOT.  I have quite an active imagination and at times I would let it get the best of me. I worried about what happened throughout the day, what was happening at that current moment, and would could potentially happen in the future.  Worrying caused me to second-guess myself quite often and hinder me in many ways.

In addition to worrying, as an adolescent, I simply had a lot of wrong thinking.  I believed any and all lies that popped into my head.  If I thought something out of the ordinary, sinful, or scandalous, I automatically thought it was my fault.

Thankfully, two things happened to help me get my mind right:

1. I heard my childhood pastor’s wife preach a message based out of 2 Corinthians 10:4&5.

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,  casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

Before her sermon, I never knew that I had the ability to make thoughts go away.  I never realized that I could control them or that I could command them to become obedient to Christ and God’s word.

2. I read The Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer.  In the book, Joyce uncovered all kinds of wrong thinking patterns and how to overcome them by combatting them with the word of God. I learned how to pay attention to my thinking and become an “active” thinker instead of a “passive” one, accepting any thought that came into my head. Reading the book completely changed how I thought, and I still use tactics from that book to this day.

With much time and practice, I was able to change my mindset and have peace of mind.

Lesson learned: I don’t have to accept every thought that comes to mind.

Let God Be Your Safety Net

My early years of life were consumed by “what-ifs?”  I found myself deep in worry and despair over events that had not even occurred. I just created them in my mind.  When I look back and think of all of the minutes, hours, and days spent worrying, I wish that I would have filled the time doing something more productive.

What-if-ing and worrying were a coping mechanism.  I had been let down, mistreated, and disappointed too many times as a child and adolescent.  Tired of being let down, I would come up with the worst case scenarios, so that if push came to shove, I would not be too upset because I had already prepared for the worst.  Having this outlook on life caused me to become extremely distrustful, fearful and pessimistic.  And, since it was guys who seemed to continually disappoint and mistreat me, I was unnecessarily guarded toward the opposite sex.

In my mid-twenties, I decided I was tired of living this way and began making steps toward inner peace and healing.  During this journey, my cousin used to encourage me to let go of my hurt and my past by saying, “Kelli, let God be your safety net.”  Slowly, I caught a revelation that God was truly for me.  Not only was He (and still is) for me, but He was guarding, protecting and keeping me.

Each day I began to realize and eventually confess, “They can’t hurt me anymore.” I cannot even begin to express the amount of freedom I had when I could go out in public and not fear the worst would happen to me. The freedom I felt when I could look at individuals and not expect them to have ulterior motives. The freedom I discovered to be me, unguarded.

When we choose to stop guarding ourselves, we find that we have the ultimate protection in God our Father.

Lesson Learned: God is my safety net; all I have to do is let go.