Redirecting Life’s Negatives

 Give your burdens to the Lord and He will take care of you. He will not permit the Godly to slip and fall.–Psalm 5:22 (NLT)

I think we all agree that we are weak in our own skin. Because of this we tend to get easily taken in by the negatives of life…

Worry targets us and literally runs us down.

Discouragement seeps in like a slow leak and before we know it we are flooded by it.

Doubt dangles itself before us threatening all that we believe in our hearts.

And, Fear illusively edges itself in around the corners of our mind, wraps its bar-like fingers around us and holds us captive.

Yet, we are told over and over as believers in Jesus that we should not worry, that we should ignore discouraging thoughts, that if we doubt or fall prey to fear than we are not trusting Christ.

But, I object… to that thought process anyway. The one that says meeting up with the negatives means they will overtake us and that we don’t believe Christ.

The fact is that our very core is divided by two constantly warring forces. We are both depraved human flesh and we are children of God, filled with His Holy Spirit. They are oil and water. Dark and light. Love and hate. A positive and a negative charge blasting away at each other vying for ultimate power.

Yes, we are in the habit of letting the negatives fuel our emotions and drive us head first into our flesh, giving it the control it needs to thrive.

But, it doesn't have to be this way.

I’ve come to the conclusion that we cannot stop feeling worry. We cannot stop the whispers of discouragement. We cannot keep doubt from creeping in. And, certainly we will not stop staring in the eyes of fear. These emotions will absolutely strike us. And, it’s time to realize that it’s not about stopping them it is about re-directing them.

Upon contact we must thrust them forcibly at the right power source… the one that snuffs them out instead of allowing them to ignite and consume us. Changing the way we think about the negatives will change the way they affect us.

It’s not natural. It’s not easy. It requires a little heart surgery. And, a lot of mental re-training. But, I believe we’re up to the challenge and the good news: We were never meant to do it alone.