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Can you even imagine how much of a game changer it would be if, as you drove the kids to soccer, did laundry, walked to third period, led a staff meeting, ran on the treadmill,or waited to fall asleep, you allowed into your mind “only the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly” (Phil. 4:8 MSG)?
Would you even recognize the peace-filled person you had become?
Intrusive thoughts happen.
A study back in the 1980s revealed that people have on average 500 intrusive thoughts every 16 hours, each lasting an average of 14 seconds.
Many of these intrusions are just worries or anxious thoughts; 18 percent are mean, unacceptable, or politically incorrect—and 13 percent are ugly or downright shocking: shoving a stranger off the subway platform, running over a pedestrian, stabbing a partner, raping or strangling someone, smothering an elderly parent, or driving your car off a bridge.
That amounts to 116 minutes a day of some sort of unwanted, unwelcome, unhelpful thoughts stealing our joy and neutralizing our effectiveness.
The difference is what we do with our intrusive thoughts.
To be clear, the problem isn’t that these thoughts show up.
The problem is that we let them pull out the sofa bed and spend the night.
An old saying warns us that you can’t stop birds from flying around your head, but you don’t have to let them build a nest in your hair. This is why it is so essential to install a checkpoint in your mind. Without such a filter, you risk two hours of thoughts sneaking through and causing untold amounts of terror and damage to your peace and your God-given power.
When you force each thought to go through this screening before you allow it to remain, you can take back control from fear, shame, jealousy, guilt, and doubt. You’ll find that being so alert to what you’re thinking will have a huge impact on your emotions.
Remember, you can change the way you feel by changing the way you think. Where the head goes the body must follow.
Don’t let negative thoughts control your feelings or actions.
I am a big baby, and also a control freak. When things aren’t going my way or when my plans are being changed or misunderstood, I find myself bristling. I feel like a bird whose feathers are being rubbed the wrong direction. I sense Evil Levi rising.
But when I remember to put those negative thoughts through the scanner, I can clearly see that I am thinking only about myself.
If I take the time to articulate why I’m unhappy and what is causing me to act out (yelling at my kids, being short with my wife, being overly harsh with someone at work, or being mad at a complete stranger who I think is being a jerk), I can trace those actions to feelings, and the feelings back to thoughts I never should have allowed in my head in the first place.
Think about a time you did something you regretted: cutting off someone while driving, sending a mean text, chewing someone out. (If you can’t think of anything, feel free to borrow an example from my life; I have an abundance of mistakes for you to work with.) Now think of the feelings you were having that led to that decision. Behind those feelings were probably thoughts that didn’t belong.
Activate your power to choose a different thought.
When a train of thought shows up, don’t just get on!
Slow down before you board it to make sure it’s heading in the right direction. Ask each one:
Where are you taking me?
Are we headed to Christlike taught, Vision Oriented Mindset, Good Report Station?
Wait, this train is going to Jealousy? Rage City? Gossip Central?
I’m sorry, I’m just not comfortable going where you are headed. I don’t choose you!
This is an obvious strategy when you’re staring down a shocking or a perverted thought. Thoughts of murder, for example, can pretty quickly be spotted as trains you don’t want to get on.
But you can also avoid boarding trains like these:
• You’ll never top this success; you’ve peaked.
• You’ll never escape your past.
• You’ll never achieve your dreams.
• You’ll never make it out of this alive.
• You don’t have what it takes.
• You won’t get to see your kids grow up.
• You’re defined by the difficult things you have been through.
• You don’t deserve anything good.
• Nobody loves you, and you should just die.
Sometimes, though, it’s harder to spot trains headed to negative destinations.
Watch out for thoughts like these:
• being suspicious of people’s motives
• wondering what went wrong
• feeling guilty
• doubting and questioning God
• worrying
• obsessing about why you weren’t invited
• fearing someone you love being harmed
• secretly being happy when something bad happens to someone you don’t like
• stressing about your future
• stewing over something that was done to you
The point is, you have a choice.
Take thoughts captive, and don’t get on board.
You can avoid a train that’s headed to a dangerous destination by not boarding it in the first place. What do you do when you identify a thought that doesn’t pass inspection?
The same thing TSA would do to you if the X-ray Machine showed a weapon in your carry-on:
You take it captive.
Detain it.
Don’t let it into your mind for a minute.
Show it no mercy.
Give it no quarter.
Send that thought to the pit of despair.
Don’t be kind to negative taughts. Remember, this is war.