Playing in the Dirt: Devotions for Crazy Plant LadiesНамуна

What You Water Grows

When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your comfort delights my soul.

PSALM 94:19 NASB

Do you ever feel like you’re drowning in your thoughts? Sometimes it’s one thought that washes over you again and again until you’re thoroughly drenched. Other times, a multitude of individual thoughts band together like water molecules until they become so heavy they rain down in a torrential storm. Anxious thoughts and fear can be so overwhelming when we’re in their grip that it’s difficult to know how to stop them and staunch the flow to avoid suffocating in them. But there is something we can do to stop the cascade of worries.

We can stop watering them.

Plants need water to grow. The same law of nature also applies to the realm of our thoughts. We water anxious thoughts and give them life by clinging to them. We allow them to take root in our minds and grow. The larger they grow, the more water they need. The more we water them, the more anxious we become. Before we know it, we’re engulfed in anxiety.

God tells us to come to Him to quiet our anxious thoughts. When we turn to Him, we allow His truth to enter our minds and overtake our fear. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6–7 NASB).

When you’re anxious, thank God for His presence. He is always with you. When you’re afraid, ask Him for peace. He is a shield about you. Ask God to help you lay your worries down at His feet and leave them there. Put down the watering can and stop giving life to thoughts that threaten to choke out peace and truth. The thoughts you water are the ones that grow.

Lord, help me turn to You when I am afraid. I believe You are with me, and I seek comfort in Your presence. Help me recognize when I’m giving life to my anxious thoughts, and show me how to lay them down.