Thoughts

 January 5, 2021

For many of us, our greatest problem is that we have our eyes glued to the screen instead of the Scriptures. We obsess over things we cannot change, and are lethargic about the things we can change. I cannot change the outcome of an election, but I can control my attitude about it. I cannot by myself control the direction our country is heading, but I can control the direction I am heading. I cannot control other people’s decisions, but I don’t have to let them control mine. However, all this takes discipline and self-control. 2 Corinthians 10:5 instructs us to “[cast] down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God,” and to “[bring] every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” My thoughts are often like runaway calves; as soon as I corral one, another breaks loose, and I have to chase it down and drag it in. 

It’s tempting to get discouraged. You would think once I’ve got that wayward thought in Christ’s corral, it would stay there, but they keep breaking out. Here’s what I’ve learned: The fact that we’re still chasing them down is evidence of God’s work in our hearts. The longer I’m a Christian, the more I realize though the war was won by Christ on the cross, the battle in my heart is never over. 

At times, it feels overwhelming. Asa faced an army of over a million men and 300 chariots with half that many footsoldiers, not the best of odds. He “cried out to the LORD his God, and said, “LORD, it is nothing for you to help, whether with any or with those who have no power; help us, O LORD our God, for we rest on you, and in your name we go against this multitude. O LORD, you are our God” (2 Chronicles 14:11). He saw the reality he faced, but he didn’t let it define him. Though the text doesn’t tell us this, I know from my own personal experience that the only way he could face those odds was by spending more time in God’s presence than in his enemy’s presence. Too often, we do just the reverse.

Jehoshaphat faced a similar situation. He too, turned to the Lord, saying, “O our God...we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon you” (2 Chronicles 20:12). When we don’t know what to do, keeping our attention focused on God is not a bad strategy. The problem is, we suffer from spiritual attention deficit disorder. 

When it’s hardest to do—that’s when I need to double down in prayer. When I don’t feel like meditating upon Scripture is when it is most important for me to do so. When it’s easier to stay home than to visit someone in need is just when it is imperative for me to kick myself in gear and go. The battle is in our minds, which is why we are given the helmet of salvation. My thoughts need saving, and for that, I need the grace of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. That power is not always an energy I feel; often it is a determination I command.

The past year brought much we didn’t expect and much to dampen the spirit. But God brings much more: “Where sin abounded, grace abounded more” (Romans 5:20). THAT’s where I will corral my thoughts this year, every time they escape.