Ever allowed one frightful thought take you down a rabbit hole of fear? One little imaginative idea of what could possibly go wrong and now you’re spiralling into need-to-breathe anxiety. You’ve gone from A to Z in a nanosecond and it’s hard to climb back up.
The Bible tells us what to do in these instances. It says in 2 Corinthians 10:5
“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV
These intrusive thoughts set themselves up against the knowledge of God. I’ve heard it say every negative thought needs to be replaced with two positive thoughts. If these intrusive thoughts set themselves up AGAINST the knowledge of God, then let’s fill our minds with that knowledge of God – who He is and what He has done. There – two positive thoughts.
Psalm 121 is one of my favourites when doing this because it makes me LOOK UP and see how big my God is and how small my problems are.
1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
Psalm 121
Let’s take this portion of scripture and make a “Who He is” list and thereafter a “What He Does” list. You can apply this to other scriptures as well.
WHO HE IS:
My helper
The maker of Heaven and Earth
My keeper
My shade on my right hand
WHAT HE DOES:
Doesn’t let my foot slip
Doesn’t sleep
Protects me from all evil
Keeps my life
Guards my going out and coming in
It’s a great source of comfort. He is my keeper, He watches me, He never takes His eye off of me. All that evil I may fear, well, He protects me from it. Let me not keep my eyes off of the One who keeps me, but read these words and trust in who He is and what He does.
Lord, thank you for being my keeper, for guarding my going out and coming in, as I lift my eyes to heaven and remind myself of who You are and what You’ve done. Holy Spirit, please continually remind me of these truths as I take every thought that sets itself up against you, captive. Thank You God for the gift of You.