Sometimes the hard stuff is just so prevalent. It feels like the fears and the what-ifs take over. Our minds dwell on these things...
Let's change what we do in those moments. Think: Index cards. Lipstick on the mirror. Scheduled text messages. Magic marker tattoos.
Choosing to change our minds is a necessary daily practice. When I find yourself with fear tapes playing in my head, I need reminders of truth. Anything that will tell me I am allowing my thoughts to go the wrong way. Anything to remind me that I need to eat truth and spit out fear.
Make notes and put them places. Lay down the pride that labels itself embarrassment and post things that others will see in my bedroom, on my wrist, at my desk. Tell myself to go down the other path. The one that is good and trustworthy.
Philippians 4:6-7 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
How come I cannot remember this?! Why is it so hard when fear and worry and anxiety roll through my brain and my heart to get back to the simplicity of trust?
I think it is simply because I forget. So I must find a way to be reminded. The people surrounding me aren't always the ones who see what is happening inside and know to lead me back to truth. And most of the time I am the one responsible for teaching those around me how to get back to the truth.
"Go ask your Father."
"Put your mind on the things above."
"When you connect with God His peace will protect you."
"When your mind is full of trust it has no hands to hold the fear."
"Ponder what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy."
These are some of the notes I am leaving myself. If I don't write them out and put them in front of me I will continue to lack vision in regards to what I want to think on. And we have all heard it preached that the battlefield of the mind is one of the toughest. But instead of bringing a knife to a gunfight, we can simply choose our weapon and how to wield it. By thinking ahead and deciding what it is we need to know in those hard moments, we essentially leave ourselves messages to find in the future. We can plan ahead with a vision in mind.
I want to find truth and peace in the spaces that are traumatizing and painful and severe. When I am in a safe place I can write to the future me so that she knows what the trusting and safe girl says. I can re-mind myself. Because I know that future me (and that may be tomorrow me) will end up experiencing the fear of being in the dark night, I can leave the light on so to speak.
It is such a powerful feeling to know that I can take responsibility for how I live my life. Instead of being offended and wondering why no one left breadcrumbs for me to find, I am deciding that I will leave SkinnyPop Seasalt Popcorn as my trail. Geesh that's my fave. I'd follow that stuff anywhere.
What will you write to encourage yourself to pursue peace and what will you write it on?
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