Chewing Your Thoughts

There are mornings when my alarm goes off and I hit snooze... and wake up an hour later. There are some mornings when my alarm goes off and I groggily get out of bed. Then there are some mornings when my alarm goes off (or worse yet, I wake up before my alarm), and I lay there, half awake (or less), and proceed to think about, dwell on, and rehearse in my mind a variety of thoughts... usually of the negative variety. When this happens, I am doing what scripture calls, "meditating," or, literally, "chewing on my thoughts." It's the idea of how a cow chews its cud, over and over and over again. When we (I) do this in a negative way, dwelling on things that could go wrong, or have gone wrong, or events or people that have wounded me, this is called worry, or being anxious (among other things), and God seems to think it's pretty crazy thinking.

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not the life more than food, and the body more than clothing... And which of you, by being anxious can add a single hour to his life... Therefore, do not be anxious , saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." ~Matt. 6:25-33

So, what's the answer, when it feels like all you can do is think about the negative because that's all it feels like there is to think about? Well, I'm not to the point where I'm doing this every time... or even most of the time... I'm not sure I'm even up to 50% of the time... but, when I follow God's directions instead of lying in bed at 5:45am and chewing on all the negative I can think of in my life (real and imagined, current or potential), here's what He's taught me to do from His Word.

"Rejoice in The Lord always, again I will say, 'Rejoice!' Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." ~ Phil. 4:4-7

And this is the most important part, because it's all about what are you (okay, what am I!) chewing on...

"Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." ~ Phil. 4:8

That last phrase, "think about these thing" is the literal idea of chewing on them. In other words, if the verses above about being anxious are addressing the idea of "chewing on" negative thoughts, than Phil. 4:8 is all about "chewing on" positive things.

So, as I get ready for the day, when I have days that I find myself chewing on the negative, Lord please remind me to find positive things to chew on, such as worshipping You, being thankful for... well, there are a ton of things to be thankful for, without a doubt, including my family, my home, that I have a job and a purpose, and the little things You give me to enjoy, such as a good book and the money to occasionally take my wife out for a slice of pie... or home made bread. I can also chew on how simply wonderful and amazing God is, how loving He is towards me and my family, and how God is at work in my life, and praise Him even when it's hard to see those things.

What are some positive things you can chew on today, and worship God for?

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