"The Soundtrack of our Lives"
Lately, I have been doing a bible study with a few girlfriends entitled “Me Myself and Lies” by Jennifer Rothschild. In one lesson, we were instructed to ‘dig through our thought closets’ and organize our thoughts into separate ‘bins’. Ladies, let me tell you and much to my own surprise, my bins quickly became scattered and began to overflow with all sorts of junk! Most of the crap running through my mind on a daily basis had been ‘organized’ into three separate piles (right piles…the bins had become rather hidden at this point)
This is just a snippet, my friends, of the continuous soundtrack that runs over and over in my head…
What if I had actually started saving when I first started working?
What if I had been a better daughter/sister/friend?
What if I had a better relationship with my father growing up?
What if I don't have enough time today to get everything done?
What if I don’t have any time left over for my husband at the end of the day?
What if I’m not able to get that time off at work?
What if my car finally decides to kick the bucket?
What if I don't graduate on time?
What if the market goes back up?
When did I ever get on this crazy train any how?
Have you even been in a quiet peaceful room all by yourself? You’re not moving a smidge but you feel as if your mind is still going a million miles an hour? You feel a heavy weight on your chest and find yourself taking many periodic deep breaths (sighs) and you don't quite know why? What is wrong with me? Why do I feel short of breath? Why do I feel so tired?
Sisters, I have found the answer...
What we believe is what we think. What we think is what we tell ourselves. And what we tell ourselves is what we meditate on. Our thoughts are reflected in everything we say, everything we do, how we see ourselves and ultimately how we allow others to see us as well. We may try to play cool...We may try to lead people to believe we have it together…But girl it’s written all over you. Your thoughts are displayed in the ‘wardrobe’ you chose to clothe yourself in this mornin’.
So what’s a girl to do?
Focusing on the "What If's" instead of "What Is" only invites fear. My very own soundtrack entitled Worry: The Greatest Hits (Past, Present, and Future) is the VERY ROOT of my anxiety. The German root of the word worry means 'strangle'. When we play our soundtracks of the "What If's", we choke out any life-giving truth. So you see, our worry does nothing for us. It only squashes our joy, God’s truth, and what tiny bit of peace we think we may have found. Therefore, we must meditate and focus on His ‘Works’ and His ‘Word’. When we turn our focus and consider everything God has given us and everything He has done for us in the past, we are able to give Him back the control and focus only on the "What Is".
Next time you find yourself drowning in a sea of anxiety and worry, meditate on Phil 4:8
God gives us a ‘cheat sheet’ of what to turn our attention to and even what to thank Him for. Tomorrow, when you are putting on your wardrobe for the day, ask Him to help clothe you in His Righteousness and guard your heart from fear and worry. I challenge you to make this a daily ritual, and if you're anything like me, an hourly ritual!!!
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