Troubling Thoughts

Everyone has troubling thoughts. Depressing thoughts. Thoughts that take us down into a pit so deep we can't crawl out. That's why we are supposed to take our thoughts "captive" to Christ. If we don't, pshhhhhhhumph! Down we go.

So how do we get out of the pit if we have fallen?



David leads by example in Psalm 55:1-22:

Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea; hear me and answer me.  My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught because of what my enemy is saying…my heart is in anguish within me; Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me. I said, 'Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. I would flee far away and stay in the desert; I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm…'

… As for me, I call to God, and the Lord saves me. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. He rescues me unharmed from the battle waged against me…”

I love this prayer because it’s so real. More amazing, it’s written by a guy! A guy who’s in touch with his more sensitive side. David admits that his thoughts are troubled. He’s depressed, discouraged - downright “anguished.” I can relate. How many days have I gotten out of bed only to hear the enemy already whispering in my ear: “Why bother even facing the day? Nothing will change. Life is pointless. You are pointless…”

Oh that I had wings, I would fly away and rest. When depression overwhelms me, that’s exactly what I do. I go back to bed. I crawl under the covers, and let my imagination take me away. Sleep is the only place that I can escape from the pain. As a little girl, I fell asleep every night imagining I was somewhere else. I had a different family, a different father (one who was actually loving and kind). I lived in a beautiful, clean house, a mansion really! I was beautiful, confident, joyful.

God sustained me through a very difficult childhood by giving me the gift of imagination. But today, when I’m feeling depressed, I don’t want to “escape”; instead, I want to be healed. I want to face the day - morning, noon, and evening - with a fresh joy and peace. God’s word promises that if I cry out to God in my distress, he will rescue me from the enemies in my mind. Today I will take those anguishing thoughts to him in prayer.

“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you.” (psalm 55:22)