Someone has hurt us and immediately our thoughts dwell on what we don’t like about that person. Over and over we think about what they have done and how wrong it was. We look for sympathy by telling others how we’ve been wronged. We might even think about how we are going to get even. This is the natural thing to do.
As I watched a twig floating down the river, I thought about how easy it is to go with the natural flow—to let our thoughts travel down the river of self pity. Farther and farther we journey downstream. To change directions and think about the things we really enjoy about the person is about as easy as the twig traveling upstream.
The twig is only stopped by an obstacle in the river such as a log or a damn. We are about as powerless in our natural state to block our negative thoughts as the twig is stopping on its own. We need God’s help to stop the momentum of our thoughts towards hatred for those who hurt us. Let us pray God will throw an obstacle into the river of self pity our thoughts travel on so we can see the goodness of the person who’s hurt us.
“ . . . fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.” 2 Cor 10:5 (MSG)
by Sandy Hancock
www.amazinglifeministries.org
Excellent! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Cris, I am so glad you enjoyed the post.
Hi – yes, I agree that it can sometimes be really hard to shift our thoughts away from someone who has hurt us. I’ve found that often time will help us to see that God has a different plan for us and that perhaps whatever happened, however negative, might have been part of the plan. Also, I know it’s really hard, but consciously shifting our thoughts back to God when this happens is helpful. I guess this is part of “taking every thought captive for Christ,” but it sure can be difficult sometimes. Thanks for your post – I appreciated it!
Thanks Lisa for such a nice comment; I couldn’t agree with you more!