“He learned by experience that one
train of thought left him sad, the other joyful--
his first reasoning on spiritual matters.”
Oh, the power of our thoughts.
We are told to fill our minds and
meditate on the best, not the worst;
the beautiful, not the ugly.
"Do that, and God will work you into
His most excellent harmonies."
Meditating on the best and the beautiful...
My natural tendency is to play everything
out to its worst and ugliest conclusion.
You know, just so I'm not caught off guard.
But every thought comes with
an emotion attached. And worrisome
thoughts come with the worst: fear.
Fear puts our bodies into fight or flight--
stress—wreaking havoc on our bodies.
I am convinced Philippians 4 offers us
one of God's most loving commands.
We can focus on the bad, the things
we don’t want, or things we're afraid of.
And suffer all the consequences of that.
Or we can find something good to
think about. And allow God "to work
us into His excellent harmonies."
I don't want physical pain, emotional
pain from the past, or fears concerning
the future to shape this day.
This day will be shaped by what I
decide is excellent and beautiful.
His news is always good news.
Once again, I decide that His thoughts
are better than mine. Always better.
"Your beauty and love chase after me
every day of my life.” Ps 23:6
A beautiful, true, and excellent thought--
the one I'm going with today.
