Taking Every Thought Captive

A friend and I have been discussing thought life and how to corrall unruly thoughts that disrupt our fellowship with the Lord. We both knew the verse that tells us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, but I observed that I really didn't know what that looked like in real life, as my thoughts are pretty hard to catch sometimes. 

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 - For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

So the Lord decided it was time to give me some real life practice. That or my sin nature created a situation that gave me an opportunity to practice it... But let's not lay blame here... 

I had had a really awful day. All morning, back and forth I went between holding back tears and wanting to kill someone because I couldn't decide which one I wanted to do more... I was driving home tonight thinking, "What a truly crappy day." It was a thought that I had "thunk" countless times during the day. But suddenly, I looked at the beautiful sunset to the left of the highway and wondered if something so beautiful could exist on such a terrible day. It hit me then that maybe I had been thinking a lie all day long. 

Was it really a crappy day? Let's see. (1) One little thing had gone wrong. (2) One little person had been hurtful to me. (3) One little response to that person had been un-Christlike. It wasn't really adding up to the day I had been telling myself it was... I decided to give it a try - capturing that thought and making it behave.

I spoke God's truth over it. "This is the day that the Lord hath made. My loved ones are healthy (my little nephew got a wonderful cancer-free report today!); I have an occupation I love in my teaching; I have a vocation I love in homeschooling my girls; my needs are amply met. On the whole this was a pretty doggone good day. And I shall rejoice and be glad in it."

When I stood the lie against the truth, the lie crumbled away. My attitude didn't magically change. My fatigue didn't disappear (emotional conflict really wipes me out). But the logical part of my brain finally recognized that I had been severely overreacting.

All the way home, I repeated it. This is a good day. The Lord made it, and I'm expected to rejoice in it! Little by little the lie was replaced with truth. I may still need a long hot bath to really believe it in the emotional part of my brain, but I'm on my way (and the bath is running).

Here are the steps that seemed to help this time:

1. Recognize the lie.

2. Make it stand against the truth.

3. Replace it with the truth of God's word.

4. Rehearse the truth enough times to wipe away the residue of the lie.