You may have heard me mention before how my family and I enjoy taking road trips. However, there is a downside. It doesn’t take long to travel on an interstate before noticing bugs splattered on the windshield and well, all over the exterior of the car.
I know … gross.
Having returned from such a drive, I noticed that my car was dirty. But I wasn’t able to have it cleaned immediately. So there it sat in my garage and the next time I drove, it seemed as if I just could not see clearly through my windshield.
A few more days passed and finally, I couldn’t take it anymore! I zipped over to the car wash. Let me tell you that I was beyond thrilled to drive away with crystal clear visibility!
It made me think of how I deal with life. I set out to have the best day by starting off with reading the Bible and praying. But before I can gulp my coffee, my early-bird husband is ready to discuss critical matters. My head is spinning and I’m feeling resentful. I mean, doesn’t he know by now that I don’t thrive first thing in the morning???
Then, while I am trying to teach my children, one whips out with an attitude because they are certain that they are right and that I am wrong. I’m certain smoke could be seen coming out of my ears!
And suddenly, by the time I am in the thick of my day, I find myself feeling irritated.
I realized that those instances from the top of the morning were muddling my perspective. I began viewing everything through a lens that was no longer crystal clear.
Here’s the thing: those instances, like bugs, are inevitable. But instead of taking those thoughts captive immediately, I let them hang around and spill over into the course of my day.
Just like my car needed a wash, so my mind needed to be purified … by going to the Lord.
2 Corinthians 10:5-6 (TPT) reminds us, “We capture, like prisoners of war, every thought and insist that it bow in obedience to the Anointed One.”
Had I just gone to the Lord and laid down my resentment, I am certain that the Lord would have reminded me to just ask my husband to wait to share. Had I just paused to tell the Lord that I felt disrespected by my child, I am certain that He would have told me to just remain calm and lovingly correct them.
James 1:19 (MSG) says, “Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.”
Dear Friend, when a negative thought comes, don’t allow it to reside in your mind and wreak havoc. Rather, take it to the Lord in prayer and let the truth of God’s Word bring you clarity and understanding.
~Joyce
Photo Credit: Daniela Cuevas on Unsplash
