Mind Games

Currently Listening to: Out of the Shadows by Matthew Perryman Jones

Possibly because I am an introvert, I think about things more than some. I am notoriously slow at processing information in the heat of the moment but give me a few hours to think and I can come up with a halfway decent answer.

I was reminded of this yesterday when I had to take a short drive. There is something about the open road that helps my mind find traction and before I know it I have an idea or two swimming in my head. That is probably another reason why Ang sometimes complains I'm not the most conversational when take a trip.

This all started years ago when I was in college and would make the 100 mile drive from Moberly to Quincy to do weekend youth ministry. Those minutes uninterrupted became for me the best time to write sermons, think strategically and put plans together.

These days I don't have much free time like that. It's true, I do spend my fair share of hours on planes and on the road but they don't seem to be quite the same. Maybe its the ipad that keeps me from being thoughtful these days.

I say all that to ask us a question. When do we think and what do we need to schedule into our lives to have some time with our thoughts long enough to put a plan together. I personally hate nothing more than feeling frantic or stressed and feeling like I have to make decisions in a rush. It seems like that is when I make most of my mistakes.

The thing is thoughts can be very powerful for good or for bad. It takes hard work to keep them useful.

Last summer I got to head to Oregon to hang out with my friends on the MOVE team. One night Matt Proctor who's the President of a college here in town was speaking and he talked about how we choose to make bad decisions. Every once in a while I'm a sucker for a snappy way of saying something and he said our thought process usually goes, "Hesitate, contemplate, negotiate, participate." Makes total sense to me, I've followed that path many times. Now follow me, this isn't just on major things, this is sometimes just a selfish decision or one that doesn't alter my eternal destiny as much as it is a shortcut or a prideful move. I'd go so far as to say I don't think you can commit a sin you didn't think about beforehand.

A while ago I was talking with a friend at work and I said to him that in my opinion there is no more powerful weapon in Satan's arsenal than our power to justify. It just seems to me that we sometimes make something seem okay in our head and that's the worst thing we could do.

So here's to a couple of things. One, let's find some time where we can get some peace and quiet and sort through our thoughts. Maybe its a nice drive, some time in nature or whatever. And second, here's to owning up to the fact that most of the dumb stuff we do that we regret afterward was a conscious decision. It's time to turn our minds loose being creative towards our future instead of allowing it to be used for our destruction.