"When Christian women trust in the Lord, they radiate beauty from within. Their countenance is full of light, and their heart says, 'I completely trust in You, Lord, even though I don’t understand my circumstances.' "- Angie Viola, Founder of My Sun & Shade Ministries
Allow me to share an experience from my past when I struggled to have faith in the Lord. There was a particular circumstance where I could have reacted differently, but I failed to let the peace of God guide my heart, leading to a significant failure on my part.
When Overthinking Led to Problems
During the holiday season, my husband and I visited a relative’s house where I noticed their Christmas cards hanging on the wall.
As I looked them over, I noticed they received a Christmas card from someone who hadn’t sent us a Christmas card.
Hmmm, can you see where this is going?
I was caught off guard by this because I considered myself a closer friend with the sender than the relative whom I was visiting.
At first, this rattled me a little bit, but I shrugged it off, until later during the ride home I vented my feelings to my husband.
He didn’t think anything strange about it and wondered if they just ran out of Christmas cards. Guys are so practical.
But in my thinking and understanding, I was convinced there must’ve been some ill intent involved, and I became deeply hurt over the perceived offence.
In fact, I struggled with this issue for days, and it stole my peace away.
I even discussed my wounded heart with my daughter: "How was I forgotten and what did I do to make this person not like me anymore?!"
When My Reactions Were Embarrassing
During that winter, western New York experienced a severe weather storm and the whole city of Buffalo, NY was completely shut down for days.
It just so happened that our mail gets routed through Buffalo before it ends up in our city which is many miles south of Buffalo. Can you see where this is going?
Yeah, I thought so.
A few days after our visit to this relative’s house, all our backed-up mail was delivered and wouldn’t you know it, in the pile of mail was a Christmas card from the friend I thought had snubbed me.
Feeling utterly embarrassed, I had to take back all the negative comments I had shared with my husband and daughter.
When I Realized My Inclinations Towards Negativity
How come I consistently tend to follow a pessimistic path in my thoughts without exploring alternative perspectives?
Without fully considering the facts, I quickly assumed the worst based on my supposed experience and knowledge of what could have occurred.
I immediately thought this person either didn’t like me or was offended at me somehow.
It may come as a surprise that a Christian woman with over 40 years of experience would lack trust in the Lord and feel absolutely no peace in her heart, but that was exactly my situation and I was caught red-handed.
When Making Hasty Assumptions Became Unacceptable
Shortly after this incident, another situation reared its ugly head.
I was sending text messages to someone I see on a regular basis, but they wouldn’t respond to any of my messages, and it was stealing my peace away.
The lack of response on her part was making things awkward between us.
Why was this person not responding to my text messages?
It was getting to the point where I wanted to ask this person if something was wrong, because honestly, I was hurt by their actions and a little embarrassed.
One day, I decided to call this person instead of texting them when I realized I had two different phone numbers for them in my phone.
What?! Yup, I never updated their account on my phone even though they sent me their new cell phone number a while ago.
Once I sent my text message to the new phone number, they responded within minutes.
Oops. There I go again, jumping to conclusions.
I thought for sure this person was being passive aggressive with me, you know, smiling at me in person, but snubbing me through text messages.
What is my problem rooted in? Does anyone else have these struggles?
Frankly, I’m quite sick of my quick responses of jumping to conclusions and assuming the worst of people!
Why can’t I be more practical? And think outside the box a bit? Like, maybe there are other reasons than the worst-case scenario?
The Gray Clouds of Negative Thoughts Were Removed
One of my favorite portions of Scripture is from Proverbs 3, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”
As you can tell, I lean on my own understanding a lot, and it always gets me into trouble.
Not only does this way of thinking get me down in the dumps fast, but it affects the way I can minister to others.
It was no coincidence that these two issues happened so closely together for me.
I strongly believed the Lord was making a point of bringing my quick judgmental tendencies to the surface so they could be addressed and removed from my spirit.
Peace Came When I Spoke the "Truth" in My Heart
The Lord wants to take us from “strength to strength,” perfecting His righteousness in us so we don’t have these emotional hang-ups and spiritual issues weighing us down and stealing our peace.
Since these incidents have happened, I’ve practiced “speaking the truth in my heart” before imagining what may have happened.
This is a very good habit for anyone to practice, and it’s been life for me.
What is the "truth"? The truth in these two situations is that these people are my friends, and they love me.
They are good Christian people and would never try to hurt another person on purpose.
Another truth I should've embraced, is that I’m a child of God, and because I am familiar with Scripture, I should've used Scripture as a protection against falling into this emotional booby-trap of judging others.
When I "Thought on Things Above"
Scripture gives us a list of “guards” or gateways we can place at the entrance of our thoughts to help us think on things above.
When we "think on things above," it helps us to speak the truth in our heart and find peace.
Philippians 4:8-9
“Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”
If we think on the things listed above instead of the perceived “ills” of other people, or our imaginations, we will experience the peace that passes all understanding, and it will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.
The Father of Lies Seeks to Destroy
Our enemy (Satan) is the Father of Lies, and he is constantly trying to plant his suggestions, thoughts, and evil ideas into our minds so we can lose our peace.
How can we protect ourselves against such onslaughts?
Scripture makes it very clear what we are to use the Word of God as a shield against such attacks.
One way to ward off the attacks of our enemy is by filtering thoughts through the guards listed in Philippians 4:8-9, mentioned above.
Another way we are to use Scripture as a defense is by casting all of our thoughts, imaginations, and ideas down and submitting them to the Lord for review.
2 Corinthians 10:5
"Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ,"
There is Joy When the Peace of God Rules in My Heart
The Lord wants to provide answers to all of our problems, and we can't look past finding answers in the Bible.
The Bible was written many years ago, but is very applicable for us in today's world.
I read the Bible on a daily basis, and am so thankful for the spiritual guidance it provides.
Now it is up to me to apply what I've learned, heard, and received from His holy word.
It is only after I believe and practice God's word that I receive the peace that passes all understanding.
Turning to the Lord first and trusting Him to help us understand matters brings abundant joy and peace.
Therefore, we can confidently declare, "I have the freedom to serve the Lord," as He has the power to liberate us from emotional barriers hindering our spiritual growth and journey towards righteousness.
I Will Continue To "Think on Things Above"
We are told in the Bible to think upon things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of a good report if we want to find peace.
Philippians 4:9 says that if we think on these things like we’ve been told then we will experience the peace of God in our hearts.
Does any of this resonate with you? Have you found yourself without inner peace?
It's possible that you've encountered situations that have escalated in your thoughts.
Perhaps you're tired of always expecting the worst from people and jumping to conclusions.
May we seek the Lord in prayer, asking for His guidance in cultivating a mindset focused on truth, honesty, and justice, as outlined in Philippians 4:8-9.
This way, we can experience inner peace and honor God through our words and actions.
Let's Pray Together
Father in Heaven,
We earnestly come before You with this complex issue of our thinking. You know our thoughts even before we think them and You know what we are going to say even before we speak. Please help us heed Your holy word and apply those guards to our thought process so we can protect our heart from hurts, wounds, and unnecessary depression.
Our human tendencies are to think badly of people, but we want this to change in our life. We no longer wish to be governed by our imaginations, so we are asking You to put a guard at the gateway of our mind, and prompt us to stop, and consider what we are dwelling on before we go downwards in our thinking.
Help us have the will power to cast imaginations down, and any thought that goes against the knowledge of heaven.
Help us to obey Your word to its fullest intent, so we may experience the fullness of joy in this lifetime and in the life to follow.
In Your precious name,
Amen.
Blessings ~
Angie
The Founder
of My Sun & Shade Ministries
Read More About The Founder
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