Things Above: When Your Thoughts Are Out of Your Control

Yet I am confident I will see the Lord's goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13

At night,

I look up at the stars

and I see the Lord's handy work.

During the day,

I look around at the trees,

the grass,

the birds,

and the bees.

Again,

I see the Lord's handy work.

During the night,

I lay awake,

afraid

of what tomorrow might bring

and I shudder.

What do you do

when the night haunts you?

You fix your thoughts

on things above.

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8

 God is true,

He is honorable,

and right,

and pure,

and lovely,

and admirable.

He is excellent

and worthy of praise.

So why

is it so hard

to think about such things?

Instead,

 I find myself thinking

of unworthy things.

Things that come from the evil one:

his lies,

his words,

they steal away at my thoughts,

my mind,

my heart.

But,

"Guard your heart"

they say

and I try.

But what do you do

when the evil one

is coming after you

with such a force

tearing you apart?

You fix your thoughts

on things above.

Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. Psalm 27:14

But when the waiting gets tough,

what do you do?

You fix your thoughts

on things above.

At night,

I look up at the stars

and I see the Lord's handy work.

During the day,

I look around at the trees,

the grass,

the birds,

and the bees.

Again,

I see the Lord's handy work.

Think about such things

and smile.

My Thoughts: Keep you thoughts away from all the bad in the world. Instead, intentionally seek out the Lord's goodness. Life is hard and its so easy to think about everything that's wrong, but we need to stand strong in our faith, build walls around our minds to keep the evil one from spilling evil thoughts inside, be brave and courageous, and wait for the Lord's perfect timing. Its not going to be easy, but in the end, it'll be worth it.

Since you have been raised to  new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. Colossians 3:1-2

We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne. Hebrews 12:2

So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. 2 Corinthians 4:18

But the one who endures to the end will be saved. Matthew 24:13