Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.
Proverbs 4:23 GNT
Jackson was a Senior, and we were well into the fall season. After 12 years of life according to an academic calendar, I had come to anticipate the usual sequence of events flying by at a rapid clip. Registration, Labor Day, that first crop of tests, Homecoming, and fall break had all made their appearance. Yes, National Honor Society was up next.
When Jackson was inducted the previous year, I had made a mental note that I would be expected to send food to the reception next time. So, when one of Jackson’s friends called, identifying himself as a student officer for NHS, I assumed that that was the reason for the call. Already running through a mental list of my best finger-food recipes, I was jolted by his next statement. “I’m sorry to inform you that Jackson has been expelled from National Honor Society.” I felt as if I’d been punched in the stomach. “What?! What did he do?” I asked. “He was caught cheating. That is grounds for immediate expulsion,” he said.
My mind reeled out of control. Alternate futures instantly replaced my dream of a joyous graduation day for my son. Instead, I had visions of Jackson, escorted by a security guard, cleaning out his locker, and warned to stay off school premises forever. Lawyers’ fees and possible incarceration loomed menacingly on the horizon. I could see him under the bridge with only a cardboard box to keep him warm.
Speculation became my next mental task. I made numerous attempts to explain away this new and frightening reality. Blaming the academic pressures of a competitive school seemed plausible. The problem with that theory is that my son is honest to a fault. Maybe he was helping a fellow student, and the teacher mistook that for cheating, I thought.
All my rationalizing and reasoning was interrupted as the caller began to chuckle. Other voices, including that of my son, cackled out in full-blown laughter. Jackson and his friends were delighted that I had fallen for their little prank. “That was just a joke, Mrs. Girardeau. Jackson made me do it. I’m really calling to find out if you’d send a dessert next week.” The relief I felt allowed me to swallow my irritation. “Sure, Daniel. Now that I’ve got my heart back in my chest, I’ll make a note to do just that.”
What I remember best about that phone call was the way my emotions changed on a dime. I went from nonchalant to panic-stricken to limb-buckling relief in just a few short minutes. And all that emotional energy was a response to a single bit of news.
This little incident provides a dramatic example of how our thoughts determine our well-being at any given moment. The phone call delivered false information to my mind, but that did not alter its impact. Our brains are like the hard drive of a computer, and our minds act as the software. We can only operate on the information that is programmed into the system. No wonder that one of the most important maxims of computer programming is “Garbage in, garbage out.”
All of us are inundated with mental garbage. As with my example of NHS, we make assumptions about what the events of life actually mean. We attempt to predict outcomes without all the information. We speculate about things we may never fully know. In our reasoning, we assign meanings that are not ours to define.
We cannot predetermine the events of life or how we feel about them, but we can choose how we think about them. I decided a long time ago that the word of God would have the last word in my life. How amazing that God offers to share His infinite wisdom with me! I used to waste so much mental and emotional energy with fears and speculations. Now, when I get carried away by an avalanche of thoughts, that is my signal to turn to Jesus. I can trust Him and simply take Him at His word. How sweet it is!
“These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit – but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.”
Matthew 7:24-25 MSG