God can help us change our doomsday thinking into hope. In last week’s post I talked about the disciples wrong beliefs (expecting an earthly Messiah instead of a spiritual one) that pushed them into terror about drowning, because they believed that if Jesus died, their earthly Messianic Kingdom would fail. Only later could the disciples face danger with peace, because they learned to trust the Lord, as the Holy Spirit guided them. The Holy Spirit showed them that Jesus came as a spiritual Messiah, and even after his death, he would still be victorious. The same Holy Spirit can also calm and change your doomsday thoughts, even lesser thoughts that come from worries and smaller “doomsday” problems. Please join me as I explore the way the Holy Spirit can calm all of our anxious, doom-predicting thoughts so we find hope instead.
We may think that since we do not cry out, “We are drowning,” as the disciples did in Luke 8: 24, we do not fall into doomsday thinking. Satan would like us to think our “smaller” worries are not as harmful as the disciples’ screams aboard that storm-tossed boat. Instead we assume our stressing and striving is a responsible way to handle concerns about problems that might happen. But those concerns may conceal worries that we do not need to carry. The old Hymn, “What a Friend We have in Jesus,” beautifully describes our need to bring our burdens (fear, sins, grief) to Jesus so we will have peace. I will include that hymn at the end of this post.
One reason why we could fall for doomsday-thinking, is because we do not recognize this is what we are doing. We may say, “My child could fail school,” or “I could get fired from my job,” and then feel that we are being responsible as we either nag a child who already has good grades, or we do overtime work that God never called us to do. We do not realize that these cares are not from the Lord, and our over work does not bring better results. But Satan wants us to believe the excess work is what God calls us to do, and to do less is lazy. All of this happens, because we have doomsday thinking that we mistake for responsible concerns.
We need to consider what we say to ourselves. If we ask the Holy Spirit to give us a filter over our words and thoughts, he can help us recognize when our thinking is not aligned with the hope he gives us. For example, when a mom thinks “My child could fail school,” she can ask herself if her child has failed any other classes. If this child has a history of failing classes, then this mom does need to take action to help her child. But if the child has a history of doing well in school, this thinking sounds like doomsday. And if the woman has a habit of saying many similar worried things, she can ask Jesus to help her substitute the right words. For example, instead of saying, “My child could fail school,” the mom could say, “My child can excel in school.” And even for a struggling child where the threat of failing is possible, the mom can say, “My child can get help, and we can steer her to success.”
Hope is what Jesus offers us, and Satan offers us lies. He misdirects our thoughts, often when we are tired. In fact, when we wake up in the middle of the night, many of our thoughts are not rational. While some people have had brilliant ideas in the middle of the night, most nocturnal musings prove to be unreasonable and unrealistic in the morning. So if we wake up with restless thoughts, we might want to divert those thoughts and instead, think of how much Jesus loves us and provides for us. We do our best thinking in the day, when we are well rested, so we need to stop ourselves when we wake up with many thoughts. Satan likes to trick me with those nocturnal concerns, and I have learned that my waking up and trying to think never helps me. I do better praying before bedtime, and also in the morning.
But since Satan is so persistent about instilling nocturnal thoughts, I keep a note on my pillow. It says, “Pray over sleep,” and even if I am exhausted, I see the note and pray against those nocturnal concerns, and over other things that could awaken me. Then I set the note on my desk, and I let the Lord know I trust him, and I lay down. In the morning, I move that note back onto my pillow so it will be there that night. I know how easily I can forget to pray. Satan loves to distract tired women from praying, so this note helps me to check in with God before I sleep.
I only wanted to write a brief post on this concern, because I think we can easily catch ourselves and then turn our doomsday thinking back to hope-filled thoughts, once we realize Satan has been luring us to do otherwise. As wily as Satan is, the Holy Spirit is more powerful and faithful. We just need to check in with God, throughout the day, to ask him about our thinking. Then we can stay focused on the hope he gives us and not try to take on cares and worries God does not call us to carry.
I pray I have blessed you with this cheerful, short post. May the Lord guide you this week, and please do read the hymn I posted right under this last paragraph.
“What a Friend We have in Jesus”
What a Friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness,
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Are we weak and heavy-laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge—
Take it to the Lord in prayer;
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer;
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,
Thou wilt find a solace there.