Overthinking

“You perceive my thoughts from afar off” (Psalm 139:2)

Thinking!  We all indulge in it.  We become masters at the game of drawing conclusions and forming opinions.  In fact, we are so good at it that we allow our minds to be daily consumed with rationalizing, reflecting, contemplating, and analyzing.  Don’t believe me?  Studies have been done, recent studies, that tell us every individual has six thousand thoughts in a single day.  If we each were lucky enough to get eight hours of sleep at night, that would mean we spend sixteen hours awake, and in those sixteen hours we would have six and a half thoughts per minute.  Some of them we remember – some we do not.  Some of them are wasteful, like “what do dogs dream about?”  Some of them are helpful, like “I need to add oatmeal to my grocery list.”  At my age, some of them only last for a second or two, then sail off into the sunset never to be heard from again.

The point is, we all think.  Some of us think too little.  That can get us into trouble.  Some of us overthink.  That can really get us into trouble.  Overthinking can and does cause us to concoct ideas that are untrue, unreal, and unsettling.  Now that’s something that can be very unhealthy for us both mentally and physically.  Overthinking can steal our peace of mind.  Medical professionals tell us that overthinking can affect our bodies by causing high blood pressure, lack of sleep, and digestive problems.  Overthinking can even affect our immune system, cause twitching and trembling, and add to the misery of diseases. 

Here’s the good news!  You and I do NOT have to figure everything out.  Truth is, that is not a job God has given us.  That’s His job!  I John 3:20 – “God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.” (NLT).  “Many are the plans in the mind of man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” (Proverbs 19:21).  The Lord of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so it shall be, and as I have purposed, so it shall stand.” (Isaiah 14:24)

So, here’s the question each of us must answer:  Do we believe what God’s word says is true?  Because if we do truly believe his word, then we can stop trying to own all the problems in our life, our family, our church, our country, our world.  We can take the load we carry in our minds and on our shoulders off and lay it all down.  We can give our brains a much needed rest.  You and I do not have to worry about, figure out, or try to solve everything.  We can release all the things we don’t have control over.  We can embrace the fact that God has a perfect plan, and that he has everything under control.  And…….we can get rid of the majority of those six thousand daily thoughts.

                                                     Darlene