What to Do When Life Doesn't Make SenseSample

Replace Wrong Thoughts

How do you take control of your thoughts? You could try closing your eyes tight and repeating, “I won’t think about this” over and over.

Have you ever tried that? If you’re like me, in 15 seconds you’re back to thinking about the problem. No, you have to replace those thoughts by putting something else in your mind. Of course, the best thing to put in there is God’s Word. That’s how we renew our minds.

I like to call it “thought replacement therapy.” Say you have a glass full of dark liquid which represents wrong thoughts, so you want to empty the glass.

For the sake of this exercise, let’s say you can’t tip the glass or turn it upside down. After all, you can’t tip yourself upside down to empty your head of wrong thoughts, can you? So how can you get the liquid out of the glass?

Let’s say that you also have a big bucket full of pure, clear water. This represents right thoughts, in line with the Word of God.

If you start pouring that water into the glass (and keep pouring and pouring and pouring) what eventually happens? The water will displace the dark liquid and you’ll have a glass full of beautiful clear water.

It’s the same with hurtful thoughts. The best way to change them is to replace them with good thoughts. And the Word of God is the perfect replacement. Pour the cleansing water of the Word into your mind by thinking about what God has said. Meditate on it. This will fill your mind with thoughts of peace, love, and grace.

Simply put, to get wrong thoughts out, you need to put the right thoughts in.

Every time your mind wants to wander back to the bad thoughts (and it will!), you can choose instead to think about what God has said. You can say, “No, I take those thoughts captive by thinking about what God’s promises say.”

This is one reason it’s good to memorize scripture. Or at least keep Bible verses handy (on a card, your cell phone, or a sticky note) so you have access to them when you need them.

If you spend all your time thinking about your questions and the bad things that have happened, you’re going to get stuck. The only way to leave the pain behind and move forward is to change what you’re thinking.