How well did you sleep last night? Or any night? If you’re like me and a number of other people, you will have times when your mind goes over and over things that keep you awake. Things that happened during the day, something someone said, something in the news, some dumb thing I did 30 years ago that has come back to haunt me. These things are always negative and dwelling on them is unhelpful to say the least. They gnaw away at my emotions and shatter my peace. In the day time, they take my attention away from what I’m doing and sap my energy.
All these things do not come from God, but God has a very effective way of dealing with them. I read Psalm 77 recently and saw another person who was afflicted in the same way but who dealt with it effectively.
I encourage you to read Psalm 77 for yourself.
This Psalm is in two sections. Granted the psalmist is thinking about God and asking God questions in the first section. Much of my negative thinking is not particularly tuned to God and when it is it is like the Psalm – my perception and not really true of God. For although the psalmist talks to God his focus is actually on himself.
The solution to going down this track of mulling over hurt, guilt, negativity and fear is to counter it with the truth about God and about us, which is precisely what the psalmist does from verse 10 on. He does it deliberately and with discipline. I know from experience that it takes discipline, sometimes dogged determination. My mind seems to prefer to go down negative paths, so I have to force it to go with the positive and true. It’s not easy but it sure is worth it.
Here are some thoughts on this from the good people at Wisdom for Life.
“Does worrying about tomorrow make tomorrow any less painful? Repeating and rehearsing fearful thoughts only stresses the mind further, and increases the pain. To lower anxiety, the mind needs a consistent diet of optimistic, and calming self -talk.”
“What I keep on imagining generally never happens. To lower anxiety, give permission for the worst to happen, and know you would most likely survive it if it did happen.”
“Your success in life and relationships is determined by the quality of your thoughts. Make sure your thoughts are optimistic, positive, encouraging and empowering. In this way you train your mind to work for you and not against you.”
“What you believe makes all the difference. When your beliefs are healthy and wise, then your life will be filled with hope and freedom.”
For this to work our thoughts must be true. True about ourselves, about God and about other people.
The guide that beats the habit of bad thinking is Philippians 4:8 Fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely and honourable. Make this your habitual way of thinking and you will live fruitfully and sleep peacefully.