Good thinking leads to a resilient life.

Christine DiGiacomo
12 minutes ago
5 min read

podcast: https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/389e40b0/good-thinking-leads-to-a-resilient-life-no-4-resilience

I am gripped by this notion of resilience.

About 1500 years before Jesus, a man named Caleb was born. The reason he made his mark is that he believed God. Caleb trusted God would do what he had told Moses he would: give the Israelites the Promised Land. When others doubted, Caleb1 stood firm. And then he stayed disciplined and ready to take that promised land at 85 years of age! He is our role model for living a resilient life.

Caleb's thoughts determined a particular outcome. Caleb believed God. Could you say the same? Insert your name right there: _______ believes God. Do you?

Paul has a lot to say about our thinking. Yet if we step a little closer to his personal journey, we find out the man struggled too.

Consider this peek into his mind:

"I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. . . . I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind... Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?2

While the highly-educated, intellectual Paul stands alone in his influence of Christian life and doctrine, he was honest about his struggle with his thinking.

Paul had to learn to think well. I find that encouraging!

Some of my favorite and most motivating verses in Scripture

are in Philippians chapter four, written by Paul,

and include one powerful verb: learned

"I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation."3

Fact is, we have within our incredible God-given brains the capacity to think well, dream big, stay resilient in life and finish well. 'Our lives are always moving in the direction of our strongest thoughts. What we think will shape who we become.'4

If Paul could learn to control his thinking--we can too. It is possible to 'rein in' thoughts of worry or fear or lust, or secondary thoughts like prejudice, jealousy, or envy. I'm sure you have heard this--“You cannot keep birds from flying over your head but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.”5

Because almost all of us have work to do in this arena of our lives, let's

(1) take stock for a moment:

>What sorts of thoughts are yours? About what would you say you spend most of your time thinking?

_____________________________________________________

>What thoughts do you have that are pleasing to God? _____________________________________________________

>Which thoughts are not? Which thoughts are defeating?_____________________________________________________

After taking stock, the next step is to (2) Pray. Ask God to renew your mind, to clean and refresh it, in short, ask God to help you think better.

(3) Take time to meditate on God's Word daily; verses you read and study will run through your mind just when you need them! It might be you who needs a lifeline, then again, it could be your daughter's teammate or your colleague on the east coast. When you need it, the inspiration of a specific scripture verse rings in your mind to lend encouragement. Sweet!

(4) REPLACE your errant or stuck-in-a-rut thought with truth.

Very often, our thoughts get stuck on something vital or emotional:

worry> over a child, struggling marriage, finances, terminal illness, the future... real things! What to do?! Use the Replacement Principle: REPLACE your thought with truth.

Having a visual image always helps me, and perhaps it will help you too. Picture your mind as though it has shelves in a pantry lined with Campbell's soup cans. Can you see the red and white Campbell soup labels?

Struggling with fear/anxiety?

Take down the can of 'Cream of Fear'- your fearful anxious thoughts- and replace those thoughts with the 'Trust in God' can.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.6

Truth: when you trust God, he will show you what to do.

More specifically, maybe your fear revolves around your financial future. I have heard this one several times lately, 'will I have enough to retire?' Here's another: 'how will I ever pay off my debt?' Again, I move to the Bible for truth. Paul wrote to people he dearly loved about this - My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.7

The fearful thought replaced by assurance of God's provision.

And here's one more - 'I have a real hard time forgiving myself.' I truly understand that. In the business, we call that shame. To which I say,

"But, God." (I started typing some of the secondary comments and reasons for shame, but I don't want anyone to feel like I'm heaping coals on them.)

I have held the trembling hands of folks, looked into their tear-filled eyes and asked, 'have you confessed this to God?'

'Well, yes,' the reply.

'I know you have heard the verse, 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."8

And then my friend, if God has forgiven us, we have no right not to forgive ourselves. So we pray, 'God will you forgive me for ____, will you set me free from the guilt and shame of it? Help me receive your mercy in my mind, heart and spirit. Amen.' Let it go. Put it at the foot of the cross.

If we want to win the war in our minds, we have to be willing to rewire our thought patterns, rewire our brains.9 Replacing wrong thoughts sets us on course for a life of freedom and hope.

Redeemed thinking/right thinking sets us up for resilient living.

This song captures this so well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMmmbJlWhtk

Christine

no.4, resilience

no. 1 - resilient, are you? https://conta.cc/44tLGI9

no. 2 - resilience? step a little closer https://conta.cc/44rh61Q

no. 3 - resilience and your thinking https://conta.cc/4k8IJkB

1 - Joshua 14.6-13: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua 14.6-13&version=ESV

2 - excerpted from Romans 7.15-24

3 - Philippians 4.12

4 - Winning the War in Your Mind, Craig Groeschel. I highly recommend this book.

5 - Martin Luther