Warning Signals

2 Corinthians 10:5

"We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up agains the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience 

of Christ..."

I am thankful God fashioned the world so there’s usually a warning signal before something dangerous occurs. We see it in wear and tear on items, in the pain from touching something hot, and in the quickening of our heartbeat with anger or worry.  

The trouble comes more when we don’t heed the warnings.  If you use something well-worn, it’s likely to break. If you don’t heed the pain of the heat, you’ll burn yourself. If you don’t don’t pay attention to the signs of anger or worry, you will explode or have a panic-attack.

I don’t know about you, but I often find myself not paying attention to my emotions. It’s like checking for wear and tear. If you don’t do it, you won’t see the frayed rope about to break, or the bald tire ready to blow out.

God has begun to reveal a warning signal of negativity when I start to Brood. Brooding only leads me to depression. He has identified my quickened heart rate, and sometimes that sick feeling in my chest, as the precursor to anxiety.  Almost always, the immediate reaction that helps the most is to ask myself, “What am I thinking about?”

I’m thinking about my needs, or my wants, or what someone did to me. I’m thinking about my failures, what I should have done, or what if this or that. The center of my thoughts is on myself, not on God. If I shift my focus - if I’m thankful for what God has given me, or if I think of how to serve God with what I’m worried about (ie finances, etc.), or even just to quote Scripture back to myself - then God calms my anxieties, lifts me up, and reminds me of His care.

Sometimes shifting my focus is easy, and sometimes it is incredibly difficult. God encourages me to keep at it, and He will be faithful. He already has been. Sometimes I don’t need the verse in Philippians 1 to tell me God has already made me more like Christ than I was.  

Have you identified some of your own warning signals?  Have you asked Him for help lately?