I love God’s Word. In a world full of chaos and stress his word is what keeps me grounded and quite honestly sane. It’s easy nowadays to share information, opinions, kind words, hurtful words, scary words…..you get the point. The power to share is literally on our fingertips. But have you ever stopped and thought about the validity of these hundreds of billions of words that are shared EVERY single day? Anyone and I mean anyone can make a video, type a blog or even news article to claim anything they want, be it for good or bad. How can we be at rest when we are bombarded by all this information? Who can we believe? What side should we be on? Should I worry, should I prepare, should I ignore? Thoughts that I’m sure cross all of our minds at some point as we process what we receive, sometimes overloading our brains unnecessarily.
Philippians 4:6 says “Do not be anxious about anything…”. Clearly God has seen the turmoil of the earth the last four billion years….so if he’s telling me I don’t have to be anxious I feel pretty confident I can believe him. He tells us to pray and present everything to him, and that includes our fears and the nagging thoughts of a world without him. I love what verse seven says next; “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding , will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Meaning the peace he’s able to give us surpasses every logical reasoning.
God has given us the Holy Spirit, who is a promoter of peace, a comforter. It is possible to carry out a very active and purposeful life while having a still and peaceful heart. It all starts with our thoughts. Fill your thoughts with good, and good will reside in your heart. Fill with fear and you’ll feel the life drained out of you.
So how can we get rid of the thoughts already inside our heads that don’t promote the peace of God? By thinking on the RIGHT things. We can’t control what happens in the world, what others do or say, even what nature decides to bring our way. But one thing we DO have control over is our thoughts. By changing one thought we change our emotion. Verse eight reads “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things.” This will help us stay focused on God and his promises, which he is faithful to see through.
And as for every article, latest piece of news, blog, or social media post you come across, my advice is be wise. Don’t be quick to believe, react to and share everything you come across. Look at the source, is it reliable? Do your research, and ask God to guide you. He will. There definitely is good information out there, reliable and worth sharing. But in the webs of communication there are also opinions, bad intentions, fear, worry…. Listen to the GOOD things. I’m not saying be ignorant of the world around you, but stop and think how you will allow this to make you feel and react.
When in doubt turn to God and his word. The one who will never let us down, HE alone is our security. I can put all my efforts in preparing for every bad thing that might ever happen, but in the end it’s all in vain if I lose my peace and sanity over it. Think on the goodness of God’s words and promises. Believe in his faithfulness, he NEVER fails.
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