Protecting our mind from being hijacked
Several years ago I was in Nicaragua on a missions trip. We were in Managua, a very dangerous city. After completing our mission I packed my stuff and headed to the airport with my missionary friend, Troy Doudy. Troy and I were both youth pastors back in the 80’s and 90’s. Today Troy is a missionary to Peru, in fact our church supports him. Making our way to the airport in the dark of night I couldn’t help notice Troy was cruising along pretty fast through various parts of town. It wasn’t the speed that bothered me but he was blowing through red lights like they didn’t exist. Finally I said, “Troy, why are you going through red lights, is this a thing in Nicaragua?” His answer definitely got my attention. He said, “Steve, if we stop at a red light someone will point a gun at us and hijack our car.” I said, “Drive on Troy and by all means go through those red lights!”
Sometimes my mind is like Troy's car. It’s cruising through different parts of the neighborhood, there are lots of neighborhoods in my mind, but I’m not going through red lights, instead I’m stopping. And when I stop, my mind gets hijacked. It’s like someone points a gun at my brain and says, “Yo, over here bro, pull over.” Now that my mind has been hijacked I have no idea where things are going to go. I was thinking about something important but now I’m in the wrong neighborhood. In fact I know I shouldn’t be in this neighborhood. I’ve actually been here before and I know this is not my hood. It’s dangerous to my well being. Whenever I go there I regret it.
In real life red lights are for our safety but the red lights I refer to are dangerous. We all allow our minds to drift occasionally but that’s when we need to be cautious because that’s usually when the hijackings take place. I’m on vacation as I write this. A couple of nights ago my mind was drifting and suddenly I found myself in a dangerous neighborhood. I’ll be honest, it’s a neighborhood I’m familiar with but it’s definitely a place I don’t want to be. I should have gone through the red light but I stopped and got hijacked. My point in all of this is that our thoughts are up for grabs unless we learn how to control them.
In Philippians 4:8 (NLT) it says, “And now dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. 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.” These are the neighborhoods where we flourish. When your mind goes to a place you don’t want it to go, take control. I’m not saying it’s easy, it’s not, but it’s worth the effort. In time you will have less stress, less negativity, less worry, and fewer toxic thoughts. Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT) says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Mental health is an epidemic today. Jesus wants us to live joyful lives but that won’t happen until we learn how to blow through those red lights like my friend Troy.
Stay close to Jesus,
Steve