What do we do when we see someone we love missing something really important? What if that someone is you? Would you want to know? Would you listen if someone told you? What if that someone is God? Will you be able to hear Him over your own mind?

If you’re operating from a place of fear or discontent, you’re not operating from a place of faith. When those feelings are driving your bus, you’ve handed the wheel over to the bad guy. He uses the people and things most important to us in this life as battering rams against our spirit.

I heard someone say once, “life is like a mean drunk… never knows when to stop punching.” How true that is. We have been assured that we will have hard times. But we are also assured that we will be given what we need. It’s understanding the difference between a want and a need in life.

I often find myself doing what I call an “idol check” on my heart. Is there something or someone in my life stealing God’s thunder?

I have to stop and consider what God commands me to think about (see below), then reflect on what and how I’m spending my thought life. I believe our thought lives are where we tend to live as spoiled toddlers, refusing to see anything outside our own perspectives, and throwing a tantrum when that perspective is questioned. God is very clear on how He wants us to use our thoughts.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4:8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Today has been what my husband and I call “a mean drunk day.” What that means for me is a day when my thought time is frequently occupied by fear and anxiety over things I cannot control. I spend a lot of effort bringing my mind in check.

It feels like the mental equivalent of riding a mechanical bull. I’m familiar with the maneuvers available to that bull, but the ride is still jarring and leaves me with a sick stomach.

That’s the ride of life, though. There’s always going to be another bull ride in my future, but I know God is always with me, ready to lift me from the saddle.

“Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress.”

Psalms 107:19 NIV