Monday, January 29, 2018

Putting Your Life in Perspective: Part 2




           
WERE YOU ABLE TO TAKE THE QUESTIONS from last week’s post and put your less-than-laudable life events into perspective?
           
            It’s not easy. Humans tend to hold grudges. For some of us, that’s all we hold. Or something triggers the memory of a negative life event, and there we are. Right back in it, hearing words, seeing the people, feeling the pain, with the adrenaline kicking in and the anger festering. Reliving it in all its gruesome glory. Letting your life be consumed by it.
           
            That’s one of the things we need to do—stop that process in its tracks, before we’ve opened the door on it and invited it in. There are a couple of ways we can do that.

           



Take every thought captive
           
            There’s a great passage in Scripture that gives us the template for how to control our thoughts. You can find it in Second Corinthians, chapter 10, verse 5. But I’m going to start at verse 3, to get the full affect of the concept.

            “ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
            For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but might in God for
            pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high
            thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every
            thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (emphasis mine).
           

            I like the way Eugene Peterson renders it in his contemporary Bible reading, The   
Message.

            “The world is unprincipled. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there! The world
            doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way — never
            have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or
            manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt
            culture. We use our powerful god-tools for smashing warped
            philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God,
            fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of
            life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground
            of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.”


           
            Certainly all of us have felt, at one time or another, that the world is dog-eat-dog, fend for yourself, and that the world doesn’t fight fair. Unfortunately, many well-meaning teachers tell you that—inside—people are generally good. They’re not. All you have to do is read the papers, listen to the news, and look at some of the things that have happened to you to know it’s not true. I don’t need to give you Scripture verification to prove it, although I could.
           
            When it comes right down to it, hard work never guarantees anything; and the world is a rough place. But there is good in it, and that goodness comes from God’s mercy, love and Holy Spirit that guides men’s good thoughts and right actions. Other, evil forces—and our general bent toward selfishness, pride, and preservation—generate other behaviors.
           
            And knowing that helps us put all of those negative events into perspective.
           
            And knowing that God will give you a new heart and make all things new when you turn your life over to Christ helps immensely in navigating life and putting into proper perspective. Unfortunately, we don’t always do that or know how to do that.




Doing your part
           
            It took a while for it to dawn on me that the passage says, “…take every thought captive…” I’d always prayed that God would remove it from me. All I had to do was pray that he would. Beg Him to remove it.
           
            Then I realized the significance, and meaning, of that word “take.” That meant the responsibility was mine to put a lasso around it, bundle it up and actually cart it to God. And when I got it to Him, I needed to leave it there and shut the door on it. I needed to trust Him to know what to do with it, and then go on my merry way. With my load lightened and my perspective altered. Or at last not hampered by my negative thoughts, anxieties and fears.
           
            If you’re a believer, you have the tools. You just need to use them. It’s your responsibility. He’s not going to just rush in and remove them. You need to take those painful, anger-provoking memories to Christ. And then refuse to let them have their way with you physically, emotionally and spiritually again! Enough complaining. Enough negative reminiscing. Enough finger pointing. Take responsibility for your thoughts and stop letting them control you.

           
            In an on-line article on Crosswalk.com (link below), you’ll find steps you can use to make this easier, although it isn’t always easy. The more you practice it, the better it gets, and the more power you realize you have over your thought life and behaviors. The article title is “6 Ways to Take Your Thoughts Captive.” The six steps are:

1. Accept responsibility for your thoughts.
2. Your mind—not just your behavior—must change. (Romans 12:2
3. Think through your problems rather than just react to them.
4. Take your disabling thoughts captive through confession. (Romans 12:21)
5. Choose to focus your thoughts on the right things. (Phil. 4:8)
6. It is possible.

A second way you can capture your thoughts is by—




Writing them down and then letting them go

            Journaling can be a great cathartic. You can spill out your guts on a piece of paper. A place no one else’s eyeballs can eavesdrop. A place you can stain the pages with your tears and no one else will know. And then you can slam the book and never read it again. You can symbolically let it go. And if you work really hard at it, the symbolism will be effective in yanking it from your mind permanently!

            And I found a great little journal the other day at a local women’s store that could help you. It’s called Write It Down, Let It Go: A Worry Relief Journal.





           The little journal-sized book by Lindsay Kramer offers a great introduction to the process of lassoing negative and painful thoughts and transferring them to the written page. (Hand writing them is much better than typing them on your computer because of how handwriting engages and affects the brain.) I love how she says that after writing down your worries and stressful words to
           
            “decide that those worrisome and stressful words are imprisoned on
            the page, never to make their way back into your body Allow them
            to be held captive on the paper because they have found a new
            home and a new space to fill.”

           
            Kramer also gives you prompts to get you thinking and writing, and she intersperses the negative writing pages with positive, uplifting prompts. Snapped one up myself! You can find the book on Amazon.com (And I DO NOT get any royalties from the recommendation or sale of this book!)
           
            I’ve also done things like write down my worries, agonies and pain, prayed over them and thrown them in a stoked fireplace. Or ripped the paper into shreds and tossed it into the Pacific Ocean. The physical act of letting it go serves as a reminder that you did let it go and shouldn’t entertain its return when it does coming rapping on your door again.

            You always need to remember that life consists of chapters that you cannot re-write or blot out. You are on a transformational journey. As author James Scott Bell calls them “doorways of no return.”
           
            What you need to ask yourself right now is:
            What doorways do I need to close?
            What doorways do I need to walk through this year?

 _______________________________________           

Next week we’ll continue putting life into perspective on our journey to develop focus points and specific goals. Next week will be short, although perhaps a challenge. It’ll be worth doing, though!

“6 Ways to Take Your Thoughts Captive” link https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/prayer/prayers/take-your-thoughts-captive-509888.html
           
Until next week.

Blessings,
           
Andrea
May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Photos courtesy of Google Images and Andrea Arthur Owan

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