W HEN THE church initially got into the conflict with the media and city officials over the prayer chapel, I felt some real anxiety. Only those very close to me knew how troubled I was.
One of the ten commandments for the making of a miracle is this: Don’t be blinded by negativism, but pass on to the positive (see chapter 2).
When a crisis like this takes place, the first inclination is to worry. It sometimes takes me a couple of days to get
back into a positive frame of mind. But after I get over those first few days, people ask how I can be so joyful in the midst of such a mess.
I always try to keep a good attitude. Certainly I have my moments when I’m not on top of things, but I’m always working on my frame of mind. If I didn’t work on it so much, I wouldn’t do as well as I do. We all need to know better how to fight the battle against negativism and pass on to the positive.
Creating a Monster in Your House
You never come to be something or someone you did not first become in your thoughts. The wise man said, “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7, KJV). Who you are is a direct result of what you think.
Jesus instructed us not to be worried or anxious about our lives, our clothing or our food. We shouldn’t waste time on worry because the things we worry about so rarely come to pass anyway.
Worry and anxiety won’t do anything to help fix a real problem, either. That was Jesus’ point when He asked, “Which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life’s span?” (Luke 12:25). His rhetorical question implies that no one can.
Worrying about Goliath’s threats did nothing to help the Israelite army defeat him (1 Sam. 17). Worrying won’t make your problems go away either. But there is one thing that meditating on and mulling over your predicament will do for you. It will create a monster inside you.
Like most monsters, this one is small when he is born, but he has a voracious appetite. Every time you entertain negative, fearful thoughts about the problem at hand, you feed the little monster. And, of course, he grows. He really loves those negative thoughts. Imagining the worst possible way a situation could end up is the sweetest treat of all for him.
He’s never satisfied and always wants more. If you feed
him enough, the thought monster inside you will become bigger, hungrier and more difficult to kill. In fact, he will grow to be even bigger than the external problem that spawned him. He can also be more dangerous. The fear of losing your job can take on a more destructive aspect in your life than the actual consequences of being laid off.
Some people grow very fond of their monster and love to feed him. They don’t really want their problems to go away. Then they’d have no negative thoughts with which to feed their pet. But if their problems do go away, they will quickly find more to take their place.
Are you feeding any pet monsters in your life? They are fun to play with for a little while, but be careful. They’ll eat your dreams, your hopes and your faith. They’ll destroy your life.
The ONLY WAY TO get rid of these guys is to starve them. Paul gave the prescription for victory over anxiety and negativism.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.
9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you.
Philippians 4:6-9
One of the ways to stop feeding the monster is to think about something else. You may believe you are helping
somebody by sitting with them hour after hour, day after day, talking about their problems. But, in effect, you are indirectly helping them feed their anxiety.
The most important thing both of you can do is get your minds back on God. If you release your problem to God and stop worrying about it, it becomes God’s problem. But when you start worrying, it becomes your problem again.
Problems are perpetuated in direct proportion to the amount of thought you give them. You will discover that the problem loses its power over you as you stop meditating on it.
YOU will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You.
Isaiah 26:3, NKJV The Secret Chamber
Ezekiel was sitting in his house one day with the elders of Judah when “the hand of the Lord God fell” on him (Ezek. 8:1). He saw a brightly glowing heavenly figure that “stretched out the form of a hand,” picked him up by the hair of his head and transported him in a vision to the temple in Jerusalem (Ezek. 8:3).
At the north gate of the inner court, Ezekiel saw people worshipping an idol that was called the “image of Lust” (Ezek. 8:5, NEB). The heavenly being said to him:
SON of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, that I should be far from My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations.
Ezekiel 8:6
As bad as the offense was in the court of the temple, there was still something more sinister taking place out
of sight. Elijah was taken to a place near the entrance to the inner court and was shown a hole in the wall. Ezekiel was instructed to dig through the place in the wall, and, having done so, he found an entranceway and a passage that led to a secret chamber.
And He [the heavenly beingl said to me, “Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing here.”
10 So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around.
n And standing in front of them were seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his censer in his hand, and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising.
12 Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us; the Lord has forsaken the land.’ ”
Ezekiel 8:9-12
The elders of Israel were having secret meetings in a hidden chamber where they burned incense to their images and idols. This was taking place in the temple, not far from the most holy place and from the court where the sacrifices were offered on the altar.
Ezekiel’s vision provides a good illustration for us and challenges us to consider what is going on in our temple.
The New Testament teaches that we as Christians are the temple of God because the Holy Spirit lives in us. Think of the burning of incense as a person’s meditations and thought life.
Among those things offered up as sacrifices in our tern
pie are our thoughts. We are to offer up “a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name” (Heb. 13:15). David said, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer” (Ps. 19:14).
Every person has a secret chamber in his heart. No one sees what it contains or what goes on in there. No one but the Lord, that is.
Are there dark, secret chambers in your temple where incense is burning to images it shouldn’t be? Are there images or altars of lust, hatred and jealousy? If so, you need to cleanse the dark closets because God sees even in the darkest and most hidden of places.
There is another sin of the mind that is represented here. The Scripture says that the elders were burning incense in the dark, “each man in the room of his carved images,” because, they said, “the Lord does not see us; the Lord has forsaken the land” (Ezek. 8:12).
Apparently a series of trials and tribulations had caused them to give up on their faith in God. They assumed that He had forsaken them.
Going through difficult times will either make you bitter or better. Unfortunately, the pain, discouragement and disappointment of the past have gotten the best of some. In the secret chambers of their thoughts they continually burn incense to images of resentment, fear and the pain of disappointment.
It’s time for us to pull down the idols, rid ourselves of the images and get back to offering the acceptable sacrifices of praise and worship. The apostle Paul said we should be “casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5, KJV).
SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO think things through to come up with answers. You don’t have to deny that diffi
culties exist, but how you think about them is what will make the difference. You should look at the problems in the light of this fact: For the unlimited God you serve, all things are possible.
God can solve a problem in a thousand ways. When you look at the obstacles in that frame of mind, He will reveal one of those solutions. My advice is that you don’t consider your problems until you have the faith to see them from God’s perspective. Try imagining ten different ways God could work things out for you.
You need to take your thoughts captive before they take you captive. Remember: whatever you are or will be started with your thoughts. Don’t grow a thought monster inside that you will have to feed forever. Don’t burn incense on the altar of resentment, doubt and fear. Don’t be blinded by negativism.
Pass on to the positive.
TEN