Campbell's Soup truth.

Campbell’s Soup Truth.

I was sitting across the office from him, and inquired how he was doing . . . truthfully, I could have guessed, because his brows were furrowed.  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 act like he wasn’t, though his own mind was betraying him.  Oh, he’s not so different from many of us, is he? 

I looked again at the fellow and 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 gotta 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 here.  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 ‘Chicken Noodle’ (or whatever) in bold letters.’  Now imagine it labeled ‘worry’—it is as though you need to take the ‘worry’ can from your mind, put it on a shelf, and replace it with the can labeled ‘trust’.  So go ahead, trade worry for trust.  [Notice the action—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.

Now, here’s another ‘take’ for you …  A newly-appointed CFO is ready to roll out a new budget for the year.  He has worked tirelessly to make sure the numbers work, and the plan is actionable.  On top of that, he is a praying man, so throughout the process, he has asked God for wisdom and direction.  Now, it’s show time, and he can’t help but feel anxious.  (Anxious?  Okay, if he’s honest, maybe a little fearful)  ‘Got any divine truth for him?  Yes!  If any of you lack wisdom, you should ask of God, and he will give it to you. James 1.5   Notice with me that it does not say ‘God will give it sometimes … or if you do such and such a thing … God promises to give his children wisdom when they ask for it.  Now, one more thing—in the next verse, James says that ‘when we ask, we must believe and not doubt’  that God will supply that wisdom.  Therefore, my young CFO friend must not doubt that God has indeed led him, supplied him with wisdom, and will go before him—those anxious thoughts are at best counterproductive, and at worst, quite deleterious-- they are not from God!  But do you see how knowing these God-inspired words could revolutionize your thinking?

That is because, as the author of Hebrews said, ‘The Word of God is living and active…’  That is an outrageous claim to make of something on a printed page, but it is true!  ‘It penetrates to the soul and spirit…’  That is difficult to fathom but true nonetheless because the Bible is divine.

I have never shot a real bow and arrow, but I saw Robin Hood!  I know that the serious archer wears a quiver around his neck that sports his arrows.  You and I need the same sort of (invisible) quiver with arrows of truth that we may easily access when we need them.  We need the lifelines that God’s Word gives us—on things like worry, wisdom, trust, Heaven, grace and strength. 

Let me take you back to my little girl, Amy—I know, not so little now—but when she would lay her little blonde, curly head down, perplexed and even troubled about the meaning of life, I decided to equip her with Paul’s words:  Do not worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  And the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds and keep them quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4.6-7   In a sense, those became her ‘life’ verses; when she left home to go to U.C. Berkeley, living in an off-campus apartment that backed up to a very wild frat-house, on a street where two girls had been murdered that year—what could I do, but pray?  And then accept the peace of God.  They were verses for a blonde, curly-headed little girl … and her mama.  Oh, don’t you see the comfort, the peace, the direction such truth provides??  Ah, Campbell’s Soup truth.

Christine