Disappointment and impatience can be a lethal combination on your thought-life. In God’s Word, He tells us to guard against these two. Proverbs 13:12 (NLT) reminds us that “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.” This means that letting our hopes sink into oblivion can lead to deep discouragement but seeing them realized brings joy and renewal. James 5:8 (NLT) advises us to “be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.” Impatience can wear down our level of peace, but patience keeps us steady and focused. By nurturing both hope and patience, we can keep our hearts on track with God’s promises and stay resilient through life’s challenges.
A person’s thought-life is the inner world of their thoughts, emotions, and mental attitudes; all of these mold and shape how we perceive and react to life. Our thought-life encompasses our patterns of thinking, the beliefs we hold, and the feelings that come from our thoughts. In essence, a person’s thought-life is the steady flow of thoughts and feelings in our mind that affects how we think and act. It’s like a constant flowing stream that shapes our overall attitude and behavior. Just as a river constantly reshapes the land, our thoughts shape our reactions and decisions. They guide how we handle everyday situations and interact with people.
Proverbs 23:7 (NLT) tells us, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he,” and this shows how profoundly our thoughts shape who we are and how we live. This is an incredibly powerful truth, but many of us struggle to believe it. We haven’t disciplined our minds to think like Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16 (NLT) tells us: “For, ‘Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?’ But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.” This verse reminds us that as believers, we are given the mind of Christ, which means we have access to his perspective and wisdom.
The Holy Spirit is abiding within us; therefore, we are empowered to take authority over our thoughts just as Jesus Christ did. 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NLT) says: “We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.” This verse instructs us to take control of our thoughts. We are to reject any that go against God’s truth, and instead, we are to guide our thoughts to get on board with how Jesus Christ thinks. Our Lord and Savior always did the Will of God, and he saturated his mind with the scriptures. We’re to follow his example and do this as well, but sometimes our disappointment and impatience get in the way. They can derail our efforts to respond to God’s goodness the way we should.
Some years ago, a dear friend, Betty, had back surgery after enduring intense pain that left her feeling she had no other choice but to have the operation. After a year, while she experienced some relief, it was far from what she had hoped for. Her pain persisted, and she found herself increasingly angry with the Lord. Frustration and bitterness grew as she struggled with the ongoing need for medication and the limited improvement in her condition. Her disappointment in her faith deepened, and her thoughts spiraled into darkness, leading her to feel that the Lord had let her down. This is a very dangerous way to think, because its damaging to our relationship with God.
Oh, many of us take it there. Life’s journey often takes us to unexpected and difficult places, far from where we imagined we’d be. We started with high hopes and dreams for ourselves, only to end up feeling dejected, stuck, and pitiful. Even when we have faith and are saved, life can sometimes feel like a prison. The harsh reality is that this prison is often a mental one, where our thoughts and emotions confine us, making us feel stuck and powerless. Proverbs 12:25 (NLT) says, “Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up.” It’s not always easy to admit, but when we recognize that the issue is an unrenewed mind, we take the first step toward finding the freedom and peace that God offers us through Jesus Christs.
We can be very stubborn about our thoughts and refuse to change them. Grief and resentment are a bottomless pit. They pull us deeper and deeper into despair. Like Betty, we might find ourselves overwhelmed by these heavy emotions, sinking further into darkness and feeling stuck at the bottom. This is not God’s Will. As Isaiah 61:3 (NLT) reminds us, God desires to give us “a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair.” Psalm 3:3 declares that He’s the lifter of our heads. Our Heavenly Father wants to lift us out of the darkness and guide us toward hope and restoration, but we can’t be stubborn. We can’t disobey His command to renew our minds to His Word.
God commands us in Philippians 4:8 (NLT): “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Our Heavenly Father will not come inside our minds and start throwing out all the bad thoughts and replacing them with good thoughts. Instead, in this verse, He has charged us with the responsibility to protect our thought-life; we have to manage it. And we start by being fully persuaded and sold out on the reality that our faith in God’s goodness is the foundation for our hopes, dreams, and good thoughts. He will not let us down.
God doesn’t cause the situations and conditions that lead to our pain, but through Jesus Christ, He has given us a way to live victoriously by changing our thoughts to ones of faith. This is what it means to renew our minds to His Word. We will not be disappointed when we allow faith to hold up our good thoughts. So, remember always, we have the power to choose to focus on what is good. If we give ourselves the gift of being determined to think good thoughts and cling to our faith in God, things have no other choice but to change for the better. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“The Danger of Not Protecting Your Thought-life”, written by Fran Mack. Edits by Kim Times and K. Lizzie for Walk in the Light ©2024. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!
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