Freeing your thoughts by feeding on truth

Column Post by Beth Cranford

There we sat, in the emergency room, awaiting a CT scan for our preschooler. He had taken a hard fall on the garage floor about two hours earlier. The doctors were pretty sure he had a mild concussion.

A dangerous thing can happen to your mind when there’s time to wait in an emergency room.  At first it’s just a feeling. You sense a gloominess welling up in your heart as you take in your surroundings. You turn your attention away from this feeling for just a moment, tending to your child’s needs, trying your best to make him comfortable while he waits.

But they’re still there; those nagging feelings of sadness, uncertainty, even fear, as you start to ponder how things could have gone for your child. But you stop. You see that he is fine and the nurses don’t seem to be terribly concerned.

So you wait a while longer, answer a few more questions for the nurses, and ask your little one if he needs a blanket.

And then, as if it never really left, the cloud returns. Now, instead of fearing for the well- being of your son, you turn your attention toward the ever-dreaded “what ifs.” What if we’re here someday because someone has a heart attack? Or a stroke? Or a car accident?  Which will be worse: the pain or the fear?

At this point you have a choice. You can either let those thoughts take root in your mind, producing even more destructive thoughts, or you can choose to stop those thoughts dead in their tracks.

2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

Your enemy wants you to fill your mind with fear, dread, anger, and resentment. He convinces you, by using these self-feeding thoughts, that you are justified in your thinking, that your thoughts are true and that you need to respond to them.

But God wants you to capture those lies and cast them away, and replace them with life-giving truth.

As I found myself at the threshold of another brush with depression, I chose to “take every thought captive,” and to replace every lie with truth. And guess what. It worked! I spent the rest of the evening comforting my son, congratulating him for doing a great job with his CT scan and IV, and feeling no sense of gloom.

The Truth had set me free.

That’s what God wants for you.

When you feel yourself slipping into the darkness of negativity, STOP. Put your thoughts to the test. Compare those thoughts to the Truth and don’t allow any lies to take root in your mind. Your brain is an amazing thing. It determines the health of your body. Feed it properly. Arm your body for the war against depression by filling your mind with truth.

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P.S. We’d love to know your thoughts, so please be sure to comment below. Each of our commenters will be entered in a drawing for our current FREE book giveaway, Mothers & Daughters: Mending a Strained Relationship by author Teena Stewart. 

Beth Cranford believes every Christian has been equipped and empowered to do specific and effective work in the kingdom of God. It is her heart’s desire to see women live in the freedom that is theirs through Christ by helping them break free from depression and other strongholds. She encourages women to experience God’s power in their lives by understanding their identity and position in Christ and their unique design.

Beth has a passion for helping Christian parents design and implement an education that honors and nurtures their children’s individual design, equipping them for a life of freedom and power.

Beth has been married to her best friend for 21 years. Together they raise and educate their two children in middle TN. You can find her at http://www.bethcranford.com

Read more encouraging stories from brave-hearted women here. Be sure to grab your free copy of inspirational quotes and writing prompts while you’re there. (Look over on the right hand side!)