You have made known to me the paths of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence." Acts 2:28

Vortex

At pre-school age, one of our daughters used to scramble out of the bathtub before the plug was pulled because the bathwater swirling down the drain seemed scary to her, as if that tiny tornado had the power to draw her down the drain with it. No amount of explaining or reassurance helped. It took age and maturity to calm her fears. While we're likely to smile and shake our heads at this childish, irrational fear, there is a vortex we should fear.

We should fear the powerful vortex of our own negative thoughts. As the early twentieth century holiness preacher, Uncle Buddie Robinson put it in his book A Pitcher of Cream, "If the devil can succeed in getting me to grieve over yesterday, and be uneasy about tomorrow, he has robbed me of my today, and left me stranded on the banks of time like the driftwood of a swollen stream" (31).

A few months ago, after seeing a post on a friend's Facebook page, I began watching a series of talks, "How to Detox Your Brain," by Dr. Caroline Leaf, a Christian cognitive neurobiologist who explains that "thoughts are real things. You have a mind that changes your brain." I watched the entire four-session series in one day because it was exactly what I needed to hear. Somewhere in one of those talks, Dr. Leaf said something like, "for all your good intentions and striving, you really haven't changed much over the years, have you?" Ow. How did she know?

Scripture tells us to ". . . take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (II Corinthians 10:5b). Dr. Leaf went on to explain practical ways of being deliberate about putting this truth into practice.

Writing scripture cards and praying through them every day, or more than once a day, has helped me begin to break the cycle of being sucked into the downward spiral of negative, fearful thoughts that have robbed me (too many times!) not only of my sense of well-being, but also of effectiveness in other areas of my life.

"You will call, and the LORD will answer. You will cry for help and He will say, here I AM" (Isaiah 58:9)

"You will keep in perfect peace one whose mind is steadfast because [s]he trusts in you" (Isaiah 26:3).

"Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you" (Psalm 116:7).

". . . be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will" (Romans 12:2)

Do you see the causal relationship in that last verse? First, we are to be transformed by choosing to renew our minds, then we will be able to discern what God's will is for our lives. I've often struggled with figuring out what God's will is for my life. How about you? But if I'm being transformed by renewing my mind, I can be confident in my ability to "test and approve" what God's will is for my life. What a comforting promise!

Replacing negative thoughts with positive reassurances of God's love and power is a journey, not a destination. There is no "arriving" on this side of heaven. In this life, there is choosing to be intentional about the path we're on and the habits of thought we form. We aren't pieces of driftwood that have no choice, no agency. We're human beings made in the image of God. He gave us choices.

"And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you" (Romans 8:11).

The same Spirit that rose Jesus from the dead, lives in us! We can choose to swim against the flow. 

Daye Phillippo

April 2019