A little boy cries out to his mother, “Mommy, I’m scared. Can you please turn the light on? I think there’s a monster under my bed.”
Why do so many children, and even some teenagers, find themselves terrified of the dark?
Simply put, they fear the unknown. In a dark room with eerie sounds and whispering winds, the imagination runs wild. Before long, life-sucking ghouls and slithering anacondas have overtaken the closet.
Have we ever stopped to think that perhaps we dream up issues for ourselves? Sure, each individual faces obstacles, but what about the imagined ones?
For instance, take a typical teenage girl. She wakes up, rides to school, and sits down in the cafeteria. On this particular morning, she takes special care to dress nicely for her English presentation. As she nervously awaits the bell, a peer turns to her and mocks, “Where’d you get that skirt—the dumpster? It looks like it came straight off the back of a homeless woman.”
At this point, this girl has two options. She can continue on with her life free of offense, or she can harbor bitterness and hurt over a flippant comment. Too many times, we pick option two. To make matters worse, we add to the problem with our thoughts:
What exactly did she mean by that? Does she think things like this every day? What if she’s been spreading rumors about me this whole time? I bet she hates my guts. Man, I’m such an outcast. I’m not worth anything. I should just give up on life.
The curiosity of not know the meaning behind this insult drives the girl crazy. Before long, the girl’s list of “what ifs” and “buts” finishes the unknown parts of the story.
As Christians, this assumption leads us to major trouble because we start to behave as if these assumptions were perfectly true. Most of the time, our over-analysis takes our thoughts to irrational levels.
In 2 Corinthians 10:5, Paul tells us to “ [cast] down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (NKJV).
So, we need to make sure that all of our thoughts line up with Christ. Christ says,
“'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,'” says the Lord” (Isaiah 55:8, NKJV).
Not easy. Trust me, I know from experience, but the effort and difficulty of striving toward Christ always outweighs the consequences of living a life without Him.
There’s no doubt that God will help us, but we need to take the first step and desire to take control of our thought life. Until we recognize the problem, the ghouls and anacondas will dictate our every action.
