Do you have negative thoughts stored in your head that refuse to go away? Our minds often prove to be our own worst enemies because bad memories take up a lot of storage space.
Our minds get weighed down by negativity, relationships-gone-bad, regrets, poor choices, years wasted, irretrievable words, hurts that won’t heal—it’s a never-ending list.
These negative thoughts play over and over in our minds, like CDs on auto-repeat. They fence us in and chain us to our past. We lie down to sleep, and they replay in our heads. We walk around in a daze while morose thoughts take hold. We turn on some noise to drown out our own hurts and fears. Making an impact on the world gets pushed off the feasibility list; we just want escape from our own bad dreams.
I have my own set of CDs I replay in my mind: the if-onlys, the what-ifs, the I-wish-I-hadn’ts. Since the past cannot be changed, I can feel locked in and spiral downward. Scripture memory to the rescue!
I cannot change the past, but I can change the channel.
I don’t have to dwell on mistakes and regrets. My other option fills my mind with God’s grace for the past, His power for the present, and His presence always.
I run the Psalms, to words stored in my mind. I say them aloud and rejuvenate my soul.
Shout with joy to God all the earth!
Sing the glory of his name;
make his praise glorious!
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power
that your enemies cringe before you.
All the earth bows down to you;
they sing praise to you;
they sing praise to your name.”
Come and see what God has done,
how awesome his works in man’s behalf!
Psalm 66:1-5
These words breathe life into my spirit, and I rise up to praise Him. He increases, while I decrease. My mind’s pessimism bows in allegiance to the One who redeems me from the pit. Courage wells up, and I refuse to cower in defeat. Truth strengthens me, and joy revives me. I run to God’s Word and embrace victory in the moment. Many turn to alcohol or drugs or mind-numbing computer games as an antidote for sadness; I turn to God’s Word, and it never disappoints.
Please share how God’s Word rescues you from negative thinking.
There are a lot of distractions in life and, without the word of God it is TOO easy to get overwhelmed by all of them. I need the promises in God’s word to help me focus on the eternal, and not the temporal.
Whenever my mind is free to roam, there is no telling where it is going to go. It usually ends up in worry or negativity. Unless otherwise engaged in necessary mental activity – daily tasks or interacting with people, I try to meditate on His Word. I replace my thoughts with His thoughts which are a thousand times better.
What a waste of time it is when I give my mind over to itself! But, I know from experience, when I train it with God’s word repetitively, my brain and heart have a worthwhile mission to focus on. I know that kind of training is fruitful and such a contrast with the stagnant condition of a brain not absorbed in God’s word.
Janet, thank you so much. What a timely post. How fascinating that our minds, when free to roam, instantly take that wide, but negative road—where worries, doubt about our worth, and negative thoughts of the past lurk at every step.
I’m with you all. Catching myself starting down that road, and immediately turning around to go down the narrow road of knowing God through memorizing His Word is what can eliminate an entire bookcase of faulty-thinking-CD’s.
I’m not near where I hope to be in the don’t-worry-department, but I gain ground with every chapter that I etch in my memory. Janet hit paydirt when she took 2 Peter 1:3 at its word. Through the knowledge of Him, (how much better could we know Him—then to engraft His Word into our mind) we have what we need for life, godliness and participation in the divine nature. Where faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love abound—there’s no room for negative CD’s.
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
I love those verses. They give perspective and direction. Right now I am memorizing 2 Corinthians (just finished chapter 6), and I look forward to the strength of those verses to come. Looking ahead gets me excited about what I will learn.
Amen
Quoting Psalm 43 has helped me at times when I find myself in a “funk” and I’m not even able to identify specific, negative thoughts rolling around in my head. Thanks for the post! I enjoyed the reminder.
So well said, Janet! It took me awhile to train myself to press the stop button on the negative CD’s and begin reciting scripture. And I am so far from having it perfect, but as a matter of experience, the more I practice replacing the hurts, the regrets, the if-onlys with scripture, the less the negative CD’s are played at all. Oh glory to God that He has given us this tool, the memorization of His word, for our sanctification!