I don't know when it started or why it began. The things I think aren't really beneficial in any way. Some of them kind of creep me out, to be honest. I tend to be a bit on the macabre side when it comes to make-believe. No, I'm not Stephen-King-ish or anything like that, but my mental wanderings do tend to list toward the dark side. Sometimes they're downright scary.
For instance, when I drive down the freeway, I'm constantly on the lookout for places that could serve as a shelter for me and my
family in case we were ever homeless. It doesn't matter where I am, where I'm going, or who I'm with at the time. It doesn't matter that I've always, ALWAYS had a place to call home, or that I've never even been close to living on the street. I don't know if it has to do with reading The Boxcar Children too many times as a child, or listening to Danny Kaye read fairy tales on our record player, including The Little Match Girl. I always put myself in the middle of the story. I was the poor child who had no home and had to live in a boxcar. I was the little girl trying to stay warm by lighting matches. I was the one who was alone and cold and hungry. Me.I tend to play What If? a lot. As in:
What if I was in the middle of a robbery situation? What would I do?
What if my husband (God forbid) should die? What would I do?
What if I had cancer? What would I do?
What if I let these thoughts take over my life????
That's where I draw the line. I may entertain thoughts of this sort for a moment or two, but they don't stay. I won't let them. Why? Because I firmly believe these are the Enemy's attempt to get a hold on me. And I won't let that happen.
Am I super-human? No. Am I able to beat Satan? Not on my own. But listen to this...
I have the power of the Three-In-One on my side. Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
All I have to do is call on them. They're better than any super heroes. They're able to do more than Superman ever thought, more than Spiderman ever dreamed, more than Batman or the Green Hornet or Wonder Woman. They conquer not only evil, but the source of evil. They tame the beast. And in the end, WE ALL WIN!!!
They change my thoughts. Instead of dwelling on the down side, I'm now concentrating on the positive. And with that, What If? takes on a whole new perspective.
What if I became more frugal?
What if I really studied the Word on a daily basis?
What if I could do something to bless someone else?
What if I applied more discipline in my life?
What if Jesus came back today???
Yeah. That's better. That's GOOD. That's RIGHT.
THAT'S GOD.
Philippians 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
American Standard Version 1901
3 comments:
We really are twin sisters with different mothers, you know that?
I drive down the highway looking at overpasses to see where the safest places would be if a tornado or bad storm came over the next hill.
Jeez...we're two peas in a pod!
Right there with you. I play the 'what if' game all the time.
I love your 'new God version'.
Hey...good post! So many of us 'do life' with those other 'what ifs' in our heads. For you to be able to recognize them, and 'redeem' them, is aWESOME!! I love it! I used to be like you - always looking and some how focused on the negative - but God has turned my thinking around. I tend to go for the positive now..Occassionally I have 'relapses', but more often than not, I catch myself, and come back to seeing my life and possibilities thru God's eyes. I wonder if that's what 'living in the spirit' means - to see thru His eyes, WHAT could happen in our lives? Hmmmmm
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