How many times have you created scenarios in your mind of horrible things happening when your kids are late or don’t answer their text messages?
How many times have you gotten mad at your spouse or your friend or your co-worker and are ready to argue because they were late to a meeting or late getting home or late meeting you?
We have these expectations of how things are to play out and when things don’t go as planned, our minds start wandering into dark places and creating conclusions that are unrealistic. Technology has helped support these crazy thoughts because people are supposed to now be reached anywhere around the world at anytime by pressing a button on an electronic device. When the intended receiver doesn’t respond, our thoughts leap straight to unrealistic conclusions.
I have created scenarios in my mind of my kids getting kidnapped or being involved in a car accident only to find out that their phones had run out of battery or they didn’t have signal or they forgot and left their phone at home when they ran to the grocery store.
I have been mad at my husband for not being home on time thinking he was not paying attention to the time only to find out he had a breakdown on the farming equipment or came upon a person with a flat tire and stopped to help.
The devil loves it when our minds create all these scenarios and we get angry with others causing conflicts. He is like a mouse that has gotten into the loaf of bread, just eating his way through our thoughts and loving every minute of it!
We are fighting against the devil! Paul tells us that we fight with weapons that are stronger than those weapons the devil uses. In 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (NIV) he says “the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 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.”
We are fighting with Christ on our side – the one who can demolish these made up scenarios! We must have faith that the weapons of God are stronger than the weapons of the devil.
The next time you conjure up this creative story about why your kids, spouse, friend or coworker isn’t meeting YOUR expectations, remember that you need to take those thoughts captive, present them to the Lord, relax, and take a leap of FAITH that God is in control……….not a leap to conclusions!
