Campbell’s Soup Truth. ~ a little Fall tune-up on our thinking!

Hello.

I was sitting across the office from him, and inquired how he was doing . . . truthfully, looking at his furrowed brows, it was obvious how he was feeling. He hesitated, choosing his words with care—“Freedom. I need freedom.” “What do you mean?” I quietly asked. “Well, mostly I need freedom from all of the things pressing in on me, and then from the things my mind keeps telling me.” He was operating in a high-stress mode, trying to manage it, but his mind and emotions were betraying him. Oh, he’s not so different from many of us, is he? [‘Could be your teen-aged daughter is messing up, your marriage is rocky (at best), you cannot see out of the pile of debt that you are under … and the anxiety you feel is keeping you awake, taking the spring from your step, and the joy from your life.]

Looking again at the fellow, I breathed a silent prayer for wisdom, then forged ahead—“You are not apt to just stop thinking worrisome thoughts; oh, you can will yourself not to think them, but truthfully, those thoughts will plague you just the same. Brother, you must replace your unfruitful thinking with truth; and so you have those truths readily available, you’ve got to memorize some Scripture.” Again, I know of no better way to conquer your mind than to replace your natural thoughts with supernatural ones.

And then I tried to paint him a picture that I hope will make sense to you. It is as though your thoughts are metal cans lined up in your brain—you can change them by taking unproductive ones out and replacing them with good thinking. Picture a can of Campbell’s soup—what does it look like? ‘Red and white label, ‘Campbell’s’ in script, and ‘Tomato’ (or whatever) in bold letters.’ Now imagine it labeled ‘stress’—it is as though you need to take the ‘stress’ can from your mind, put it on a shelf, and replace it with the can labeled ‘trust’. So go ahead, trade stress/anxiety for trust. [Notice the action, the intention—you must actively choose to replace your unproductive thinking.] Trust? Yes! Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3.5-6 When you choose to trust God, he promises to lead you.

Be intentional with your thinking!

Christine Todd DiGiacomo

PastorWoman.com