I’ve heard when God is really trying to get your attention; you will come across the same verse frequently and sometimes in various forms. Well, He must really want my attention because He’s been bringing Philippians 4:8 in my daily devotionals, the on-line Bible Study (Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst) I’m doing and He’s been speaking in my head with the verse as well. The verse says this: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”
I don’t know about you, but my thoughts are not always noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or even praiseworthy. In fact my thoughts can be pretty degrading and about as stinky as blue cheese. I did a 3-day challenge where I wrote down my stinkin’ thinkin’ thoughts and my oh-so-lovely thoughts. When I remembered to write them down, I noticed right off the bat, I had more stinkin’ thinkin’ thoughts. Whew, this was not gonna be easy.
Let’s go through one of my days. I woke up, praised God for the day and thanked Him for all my blessings and walked into the bathroom where I took a look in the mirror where I proceeded to make a face at the face staring back at me in the mirror. Check out that awesome bed hair, and is that a new wrinkle or a crease in my face from sleeping so hard? Could my eyes have darker circles than these audacious circles today? Good grief did I beat myself up or is the bottom half of my eye socket falling into my brain? Oh, is that white streak from the toothpaste I used or more likely a nice dried patch of drool? Could I be any more attractive? Ughhh!!!
That’s a lot of stinkin’ thinkin’ in less than 60 seconds!! Thankfully, my thoughts didn’t stay focused on myself all day. There were the telemarketers that called that I had less than praiseworthy words for, the folks in the grocery store who seem to think parking their cart in the middle of the aisle is absolute best spot for their cart, and don’t get me started on the people that clear their throats and then spit on the sidewalk. Then there’s the posts on Face book where I wonder….what would possess a person to post their most personal drama for all to witness.
See…all stinkin’ thinkin’ thoughts. At the end of the 3 day challenge I wrote 58 stinkin’ thinkin’ thoughts and 23 lovely thoughts. Mind you that was 3 days of about 8 hours and the ones I remembered to write down. Hmmmm…is it any wonder God says to think about whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things?
It’s in no way #beneficial for me to stinkin’ think. It doesn’t make me happy, it doesn’t put a smile on my face nor bring joy to my heart. I’m sure if I voiced my stinkin’ thinkin’ thoughts out loud, it wouldn’t make the receiver happy. In fact as I type this, I’m actually scowling.
As I reviewed my stinkin’ thinkin’ thoughts, I wondered how I could be so cruel to myself. I would in no way say the things I said about myself to anyone else. In fact the things I thought about myself, I would go out of my way to assure another those things were not true, that there was much more to that person that what they were seeing. And then it hit me. While I am busy beating myself up with my own words, God is telling me I am fearfully and wonderfully made. He’s telling me I am precious in His sight. He’s telling me to stop the stinkin’ thinkin’ and “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.” That right there is some #beneficial soul food that I can fill my mind and spirit with.
Blessed to be Broken 