How To Stop Negative Thinking
Learning & Retention Tip:We often seek out information that will help us do two things: thrive and survive. As you read through today’s blog ask yourself: How do I want to respond to this thought? How does God want me to respond to this thought?
How to Stop Negative Thinking:
There are three verses that have repeatedly caught my attention throughout my journey of life. The first one is Romans 12:1-2:“Do not conform to this world, but be TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind.”The second, 2 Corinthians 10:5, explainshowto be transformed by the renewing of your mind:“Take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ.”The third verse, Philippians 4:8, tells uswhatthoughts to focus on:“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.”
What does this look like boots on the ground when it comes to gaining victory over negative thinking? It starts with our understanding of the purpose of the thinking brain. The primal brain’s sole responsibility is to protect us from potential threats. In fact it will hunt and gather information and create potential threats that are smoke and mirrors. This, my friends, is the playground of the devil. His entire purpose is to keep the peace of God from reigning in our hearts. His desire is to cause us to be upset and he uses the primal brain to make it happen.
As we gain insight into how our brains work, we step into the position of the watcher of our thinking verses reacting to whatever pops into our heads. This is the position that creates the essential gap which offers us the opportunity to take our thinking captive for Christ…redirecting our thoughts to what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely and admirable.
One proposed idea on this topic addressing the difference between a thought and thinking about a thought (Don’t Believe Everything You Think by Joseph Nguyen). For example, I was hiking in the mountains last weekend with my husband and I noticed I forgot our dog leash back on the trail. My husband offered to go back and get the leash. I checked the time when he left and waiting for him to return. After 25 minutes, a thought popped into my mind:it’s been 25 minutes. If I had left the thought alone without thinking about it, I would have been able to maintain inner peace however, I started to think about the thought that it had been 25 minutes. SHAZAM, instantly inner peace was hijacked by panic, worry and to be honest a little PTSD fueled by thinking about my husbands heart attack that he had five months ago. My brain was doing what it’s created to do, protect me from possible harm by identifying possible threats…yet it produced mental chaos, fear, anxiety and worry. Again, the playground of the devil is in the primal part of the brain. “The devil comes to kill (our sense of safety), steal (our identity) and destroy (our inner peace).” John 10:10…Jesus comes that we might have life and have it to the full.
How do we stop negative thinking?Stop thinking.You may experience mental push back when you read:Stop thinking, yet this is a practice that is laid out in the scriptures: Take every thought captive and focus your thoughts, the thinking about the thoughts is what creates the mental suffering. If you wonder about this practice, try it on this week. Begin as soon as you finish reading this blog post. Invite the Holy Spirit in to help you take every thought captive and for the ability to focus your thoughts on Christ. A thought drops in, pause, God how do you want me to respond to this thought?
God speaks now, not in the past or the future, He is the great I AM. Therefore, as we remove our thinking about the thoughts that pop up in our mind we stay present to the guidance, wisdom, discernment and inner peace of the presence of God. Divine downloads come in the form of thoughts not thinking about the thoughts. For example, when Moses encountered the burning bush he had a thought to take a step closer to the bush at which point God spoke. He didn’t think about the thought:“hmmm should I take a step closer, what if I get burned, what if…” He responded to the thought which led to an encounter with the living God and the deliverance of God’s people. Another example is Peter stepping out of the boat to walk on water to Jesus. He saw Jesus, had a thought and verbalized it to Jesus: “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on water.” Jesus invites Peter to come. Peter steps out of the boat and begins to walk on water (no problem, he had the thought and responded to it as Jesus directed him). As soon as Peter began to think, he started to sink: “Peter started to think about the thought of walking on water and fear slithered in: fear of the wind, fear of the waves and he started to sink. Another thought popped in:“Lord save me.”Instantly Jesus reached out His hand and pulled Peter to safety.
Take Action:
When we start to think, we begin to sink. Be intentional with the Holy Spirit’s assistance, as you discern the difference between thoughts and thinking about your thoughts this week. See how many times you can stop yourself from mental turmoil simply by refusing to think about the thought. By the way, as you stop thinking about thoughts, you strengthen your mind’s ability to access thoughts at a quicker pace which results in more creativity and productivity. Why? Because you clear up mental landscape between your two ears that was hijacked by the noise of thinking about a thought rather than taking action on the thought. At times a thought may pop in your head and you discern that it is not of God as quickly as possible simply delete or use your mouth to rebuke by saying:Stop! I choose to take every thought captive for the good work that God has prepared for me to do(Ephesians 2:10).
