Evicting the Lies that Lounge in My Mind

When the mind is a battlefield, invite the Gardener.

My mind can get into a terrible habit sometimes of dwelling on thoughts that run wild in my head. No one’s taking them captive. They’re just running amuck and reigning on a throne I’ve allowed them to set up in my mind.

What do you do when these little terrors have set up camp in your head?

How long do you let them stay? How much do you let them grow their kingdom? Are there lies sitting in recliners around the space in your head…just chillin’…no sign of leaving any time soon. They’re settled in. Real cozy. And they love to sit there and be a constant presence in your thoughts.

What do the camps of past traumas look like in the space of your mind?

Are they sitting in ruin and ashes. Decrepit decay, with monsters standing by waiting to laugh and mock you when you visit? Or have you sent in the Gardener? Are you allowing Him to plant, to weed, to restore, to reshape. Is there greenery? Roses? Yellow flowers spread all around? Have the scars of the ruins been framed to showcase a gold that was refined through fire? Have you allowed the Gardener to go into those spaces…regularly. To bring beauty to the ruin? Or are the monsters dancing on the grave of haunted seasons in your life?

Life dumps mud on us. We all know this. We all experience it. Many of those mud clumps are filled with rocks and pokies. Sometimes it stings. Sometimes it cuts deep. Sometimes we don’t even know we’ll survive it. Other times, it throws something tiny or seemingly insignificant, but it gets us to look down and gaze upon the collection of strikes we’ve taken. The hits. The scars.

Are there lies in your head that haunt?
Circumstances that feel burdensome?
A past that knocks at your door carrying bags of trauma?

Often my conscience tries to remind me of each setback, each hardship. And God truly meets me in every thought. He restores me. I’m reminded of beautiful truths that set me free. He wipes off the dirt and brings beauty to the wounds. My soul dances with lightness. Somehow days later, I’m haunted again by the same thoughts of what life has thrown. I look down thinking to find dirt, only to see that God wiped that away already. I sit back down in truth. I step back into his presence.

Whatever life brings, my heart will come back to saying, “It is well.” Not because I make myself say it, but because by being with you, I’m moved to say it. Your light can cast away darkness swelled with grandeur. Your presence is greater than any yuck this world throws. I will always keep turning to you. Keep my eyes fixed on you. Contentment doesn’t come from life’s circumstances. Lasting joy doesn’t come from stuff or situations that go my way. Lasting joy doesn’t depend on a series of good moments. It comes from you.

Do I depend on circumstances to fill me up? Does my view of you change like shifting shadows based on what comes my way. Or are you my constant? The voice that calms the storm inside me. The light that shines in every tunnel. Are you alone my joy? If so, then I will not be shaken.

The enemy will not set up camp in my mind. The lies on the Barcalounger are forced to vacate. The mocking monsters must leave when the Gardener comes in.

God cannot simply be a daily check-in. Allow him to move in. To dwell in the space of your mind. To reign over your soul, your will, your heart. As an all-consuming God and a beautiful Gardener who walks with you every moment of your days.

I rise above the turmoil of thoughts only because His presence is real and He is everything I need.

You are faithful. And you are good.
Regardless of life’s circumstances.
You are my King and my God no matter what may come.
It is you I will give my worship to for the rest of my days.
I crown you above all.

I worship you, not for the stuff you give
Or the things that go my way.
I worship you because you are a loving Father.
Who gives rest to my soul.
Who fills me up just by simply being with me.
Let my life be of praise to you, my King.
Let my mind not spend one more moment dwelling on false deceitful thoughts that bring me down.
Let my mind be raised up to you. 

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in His wonderful face.
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim.
In the light of His glory and grace.”

-From a hymn written by vocal music teacher Helen H. Lemmel (1918)
-Inspired by a quote from author Lilias Trotter