As I continue to grow in my self-awareness and make choices that allow me to experience more of God’s joy, I am also learning there are so many areas of my life that I have choices which affect how I experience my life. I have found that there were many places in my life where I never even considered that I had options, so I was unaware of the choices available to me. Sometimes I have made choices out of habit or going with the flow and other times I have simply allowed life or others to make choices for me. I am finding that awareness of choices and making them for myself is providing newfound freedom and peace. As I look to God for guidance, He helps me to make choices that continue to free my heart and mind and allow me to enjoy and actively participate in my own life.

One really big area that I have been working on making conscious choices is my attitude and perspective. Every day I have a choice as to how I see the world around me and the kind of day that I am going to have. The question is…will I choose to make it a good one? While it is true that some people are more naturally a glass half full kind of person and some are more glass half empty people, we each have a choice as to the way we will perceive everything in our lives. I have to be willing to make the deliberate choice to let go of some things like expectations and criticism and choose to pick up the positive. When I jump to the negative and assume everything is going to go horribly wrong, I can intentionally think that while that is a possibility, a positive outcome is just as likely. While it may not come naturally for me to find the good in everything, I can ask God to help me see things in a positive light from His perspective. I am learning one step at a time, that because what I focus on grows, my happiness is an inside job that is mostly determined by where I choose to center my attention.

The choices I make on the inside of me largely affect what happens on the outside of me. I have a lot of things that run through my mind every single day and while I don’t have a choice in what randomly enters my head, I do get to choose which thoughts I entertain. In 2 Corinthians 10:5, we are taught to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. I have to have enough awareness to notice that ungodly or obsessive thoughts are coming to my mind and I need to pray and hand those thoughts over to God. If I know that certain thoughts will hold me captive, I need to make the purposeful choice to not ever pick them up. If I don’t pick them up, I don’t need to put them back down. I ask God for help, admitting that I cannot control them on my own, but by the power of His Spirit at work within me I can be freed from those thoughts. 

When my brain is filled with thoughts that hold me captive, such as turning events over and over in my mind, fear or worry of what may happen, control of other people’s choices, resentments over what others have done or regret over my own mess ups; my mind is too full to hear anything or listen to the voice of God. It is like when the vacuum starts to sound a little off and smells a bit funny because the beater bar is full of junk and needs to be cleaned out. I find the physical act of writing my thoughts down on paper and putting them in my God box works similarly to cleaning out the vacuum beater bar. Sometimes if I catch myself saying or thinking something that will trap me in wrong thinking, I actually tell myself ‘stop it’ out loud and then remind myself of the truth instead. My ability and openness to hear God’s guidance and execute His will works much better when my mind is clear of excess junk. 

All of this is only possible through my own self-awareness and willingness to lay it all down at the foot of the cross. I admit that I cannot do it on my own and ask God for strength. Where I struggle with being willing, I ask God to grant me the desire to do His will, rather than my own. I understand that if I continue to do the same thing, I will keep getting the same result; therefore if I want something different, I must be willing and open to make different choices.

Practice For Today

Today if I am feeling frustrated with my life, seemingly on a roller coaster; I will remind myself that I am the one who keeps choosing to get back on the ride. The choices I make in my life are my responsibility. When I act like what goes on in my mind is something happening to me, I am denying the work of Christ in my life and allowing myself to be a victim of my thoughts. I will be aware of what is running through my mind and my perspectives, making a deliberate choice to not allow the enemy to reign in my thinking. Christ says that in Him I am made new, so I will choose to live in the peace and freedom God provides by taking every thought captive and handing it over to God.

Philippians 4:8     Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.