Mark Twain said “I’ve experienced a lot of terrible things in my life – and some of them actually happened”. I too have let negative and insecure thinking cause me much worry. When I get my feelings hurt I focus on negative thinking. The other night I got so absorbed in the details of what was upsetting me; I began to feel worse because one thought lead to another, and yet another until I got so upset that I started thinking “I cannot believe this is happening to me” which of course allowed me to throw one big pity party for myself. This snowball thinking reveals my all-too-human side?
Rehearsing the painful thoughts repeatedly is like making a snowball, the more you roll it around in the snow or add more snow to it, the bigger the snowball gets; Likewise the more we obsess over hurt emotions and add more negative thoughts to it the bigger the problem gets and we become more worried and stressed. When we fill our head with stuff like this it causes us to react to circumstances with agitation and harshness which robs us of the serentiy that God wants us to have.
God is the Father of peace. Many of us are worrisome and peace seems foreign to us. We long for our thoughts to be toward that inner tranquility regardless of the outward circumstances.
“The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:5-7)
When times are difficult we can direct our thoughts away from the hurtful events and toward our Father of peace. Thankfulness controls the temptation to dwell on the fear provoking events. It is impossible to be thankful and worry at the same time. The Lord has told us. Do not be anxious for anything.” When you catch yourself rehearsing a hurt, say to yourself, “whew, there I go again” and consciously nip it in the bud. Stop the train before it gets going because once it gets rolling, it is a slippery slope.
Maybe we cannot be thankful for the hurt in our heart but we can be thankful that God is near, that Jesus is standing by our side to take us to the Father of peace. When we pray we can hear God clearly say, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28).
Rehearsing the painful thoughts repeatedly is like making a snowball, the more you roll it around in the snow or add more snow to it, the bigger the snowball gets; Likewise the more we obsess over hurt emotions and add more negative thoughts to it the bigger the problem gets and we become more worried and stressed. When we fill our head with stuff like this it causes us to react to circumstances with agitation and harshness which robs us of the serentiy that God wants us to have.
God is the Father of peace. Many of us are worrisome and peace seems foreign to us. We long for our thoughts to be toward that inner tranquility regardless of the outward circumstances.
“The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:5-7)
When times are difficult we can direct our thoughts away from the hurtful events and toward our Father of peace. Thankfulness controls the temptation to dwell on the fear provoking events. It is impossible to be thankful and worry at the same time. The Lord has told us. Do not be anxious for anything.” When you catch yourself rehearsing a hurt, say to yourself, “whew, there I go again” and consciously nip it in the bud. Stop the train before it gets going because once it gets rolling, it is a slippery slope.
Maybe we cannot be thankful for the hurt in our heart but we can be thankful that God is near, that Jesus is standing by our side to take us to the Father of peace. When we pray we can hear God clearly say, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28).
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