Drafts on Invasive Species: dealing with Negative Thoughts
When negative thoughts show up in our thinking
Invasive species are unwelcome organisms that show up in a place they don’t belong. These uninvited intruders then proceed to cause trouble and damage to the environment because they don’t want to comingle; they want to take over. I remember as a student, we learned about zebra mussels and how they were coming into Lake Michigan and wreaking havoc. What is interesting about them, though, is that they don’t do much; they just cling, No one notices or thinks much about these unassuming fingernail-sized mollusks. This is how our thought life works. We are sailing along and we don’t even notice invasive thoughts moving in on us. Maybe it’s a little voice that says “you aren’t good enough, or someone else would do this better, or look what they have or you have every right to act this way.” We quietly agree with it without hardly noticing, like a little crustacean attaching to our mind. It’s not really doing any harm . . . right?
Just as it takes years and generations for an invasive species to really settle in, the same is true with our inner thought life. Perhaps generations of people in a family have agreed with an invasive thought. “Nothing ever works out for us, it will always be too hard, we mess everything up.” Some may have grown up hearing people in their lives say things that put them down right from the start (these negative thoughts have been passed down the family tree). If someone, especially a person of authority, like an older family member or teacher plants an unkind seed in our minds we often water it over the years by repeating it to ourselves until it grows into a dark vine that poisons our thinking. (Now, of course, the same is true of good thoughts—we bless others when we speak the words of God over them. This is a great ministry and think of the benefit to family generations.)
The concept of Invasive thoughts had never even crossed my mind until a few years ago. I just assumed the way I thought was, well, just the way I thought. I never considered that the enemy (sometimes through other people) was slowly trying to take over my thinking. If he can get a foothold in my cognitive life, I will be much more vulnerable to temptation. If I think I’m no good and not worth much why wouldn’t I move into depression, anger or unkindness. If I think I’m a failure why would I try to be useful to the Lord. If I can’t do anything right why would I try to help others. The invasive thoughts have taken over and will start to control my environment. Not only will they spread quickly, they will get a stranglehold on good thoughts.
We recently moved into a new house and my neighbor asked me how I felt about the ivy growing at the edge of my property. Well, I’m a big ivy fan so I told him I really liked it. He proceeded to tell me how he had introduced the ivy in his backyard, thinking it would be good ground cover, not realizing, because it wasn’t a native species, that it would take over and kill the other plant life, including trees! Gasp! These thin, pretty little green vines could take down whole trees? Sure enough he showed me how the ivy was already growing up one of the trees and it was in fact losing limbs. I felt instantly conflicted because I really love ivy. I mean an ivy covered building is beyond charming. But! I also love trees. What a picture of my internal struggle. I don’t really want to get rid of the invasive thoughts. I have become comfortable, even grown fond of them, like the ivy vines.
I am a pessimist after all and that is just fine with me. If you read my last post on my struggles with joy, you will know I do not naturally find the joy in life. Looking on the brighter side seems exhausting! How do people do it? My negative thoughts or self-talk had snaked their way through my brain so that the truth was being squeezed out. The enemy is afoot! He works his way into our brains, convincing us that these thoughts are our own and not warfare. The best way to take down a country, a company, a person is to attack from within. If the opposing side can plant someone on the inside, half the work is done. It’s hard to make it over the borders or walls, but if someone is already inside wreaking havoc, it won’t be long before barricades are rendered useless because the infiltrator can simply open a door or a channel to the enemy.
Do you have an open door for the enemy to enter your thought life?
Have you ever examined your inner voice? Is it even yours?
Do those thoughts belong there?
The Bible teaches us that many, if not most, of our battles start in our minds. Before something manifests in our physical life, it was a tiny seed or simple crustacean hanging out unnoticed. Jesus talked about how, if we sin in our minds, it as as if we have sinned in the flesh. (Check out the beatitudes in Matthew 5) Why did he say this? Is it actually the same thing? If I think about stealing or lying but don’t actually act on the impulse, surely that is better then going through with the act. But I believe Jesus’s point was that these thoughts, if not dug out of the soil of our minds, will go on to produce dark fruit. If, however, we plant seeds of truth and allow them to flourish they will produce a hedge of protection against self-sabotage, harm and brokenness. These are the borders we need to put in place to protect us from these invasive thoughts. Because they will come!
We have to start by reading the Word of God so that we are filling our mind with truth; this alone will push out many of those killer thoughts. Colossians 3 says to set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth (v2) . . . Put to death therefore what is earthly in you (v5). We need to pray and ask for help in knowing the difference between what is our thoughts (a.k.a. the enemies) and the thoughts the Lord would have us dwell on. Psalm 19:14 says “let the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord my rock and my redeemer.” Also, we need community to encourage us along the way. Finding a church, a Bible study, and a believing friend are essential to keeping back the invaders.
Be ruthless with these thoughts, rip out the ivy, scrape off the barnacles before they take over. Cut them off, burn them in the redeeming flames of Christ’s love and fill the holes with the voice of the Shepard. Jesus says my sheep hear my voice. He, although at times is convicting, is never condemning. (We desire change because we love the Lord and trust that He has good things for us). God asks for change (to the point of death to self) but he does not ask us to do it alone. The Lord has provided us with all the tools to carry out this near impossible task . . . my burden is light and my yoke is easy. Pick up your Bible, get down on your knees, reach out to other Christians and start to change your thinking and your life. You are made in the image of God, bought and paid for at great cost, not without hope, not without purpose. He has a plan for you and it is for good.
Romans 7:23 “But I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.” esv
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