And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.- Phil. 4:8 (NLT)
Those of us raised in church-going families are undoubtedly familiar with this verse. Usually it was used to complement the old saying "garbage in- garbage out." Almost always it was used to instruct us in how to handle media. It always seemed to me a way of "Christian culture." We were commanded to do these things because we were "different" from the world. Of course, this should be true, but I've realized that this command is about far more than that. It's about the love of God and the unneccesary burdens we place on ourselves.
I'm one of those people who cannot watch OR listen to anything remotely violent...not even anything that IMPLIES violence or I have horrible nightmares. I've never really had the desire to watch anything scarey or gorey because I knew I'd be up all night for weeks. I can distinctly remember moments from my childhood when I saw or heard something scarey or violent and never got the image out of my head.
Once when I was at a friend's house her older brother was watching a horror movie. We were playing in a different room, but walked through the room he was in once. I couldn't have been in there more than 30 seconds- the scene that played in front of my eyes is burned into my brain now some 20 years later. Everything from movie trailers to books, news reports to creepy jokes are filed away somewhere in my subconscious.
Now, a little more about me...I'm a total 'fraidy cat. I am the person who lays in bed for hours awake because I heard a little noise. I'm the one who for years could not handle being alone after dark. I can tell you exactly what I'd do if my car ran off a bridge with my babies in it, if someone attacked me in a Target parking lot, if someone broke into my house (for the record: you break into my house, I shoot first and ask questions later- I wouldn't recommend it). I've watched families struggle through the horror of watching their child get very sick and worried myself half to death that it would be my child next. It was bad before I had children, but becoming a mommy gave me a million new things to worry about.
Now I realize that I was never intended to live that way. Yes, bad things do happen. Yes, people suffer unspeakable tragedies on a daily basis. Yes, I should do all I can to sympathize with them and help them in their time of need. But there is no need to borrow trouble where there is none. God is not a God of fear. We don't have to be afraid...of anything.
All those moments of my life I've spent worrying needlessly. Yes, bad things have happened to me. Some things that I worried about did happen. I worried about losing my grandfather. I did. I worried about miscarrying a child. I did. But worrying about it did not keep it from happening, nor did it make it any easier when it actually occurred.
I have realized that I need to step back and look at the big picture. It's so easy to get completely overwhelmed by the death and destruction we are constantly fed in our society. But where I stand, things are good. I have incredible parents who love me unconditionally, gave me a wonderful upbringing and are two of my very best friends. I have an amazing husband whom I adore and can trust completely. I have three beautiful, healthy children. I have an awesome little brother who I could have lost a few years back, but God was merciful. I have amazing family who have always supported me and gave me something wonderful to belong to. I have the most incredible church family. My husband has a great job, we have a beautiful home, I've never been attacked, driven off a bridge or been in a housefire. Maybe someday I will be, but what on earth is the point of worrying about it now? Will it spare me the pain then if I start worrying now?
Yes, I've felt pain- physical and emotional- agonizing pain. We each experience life a bit differently and no one can completely know your sorrows. But like attracts like. If you focus continually on the negatives in life, you will make yourself miserable, ushering in more negativity. There will always be a sad story that makes your heart hurt. There will always be a situation that makes us wonder why. And if we concentrate on those things the world becomes a dark and scarey place.
But our Creator knows what a scarey place this world can be. He knows we have a tendency to worry about things beyond our control. He knows that we can make ourselves paralyzed by fear. And He wants more than that for us. And so He says, "Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."
Take a look around you. Strive to see the fingerprints of God in your day to day life. Seek them out. They're everywhere. And the more you focus on seeing the works of His hand, the more you can rest in the fact that that Hand will hold you through whatever this world throws at you.
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