Toilet Bowl Thinking

Come near to God and He will come near to you. – James 4:8

Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night and remembered something important you forgot to do?  One moment you’re sleeping soundly, then you’re awake and your mind is racing a hundred miles a minute.  Peace is displaced by distress.  

Our peace can be stolen during the day as well.  You’ve planned out the day’s events.  With “To Do” List in hand, you’re off and running… only to bump into a traffic jam, a headache, or a missed call that sends you reeling and puts your whole day behind schedule.  You show up to the meeting late, forget your notes in the car, and your child’s school is calling.  Good-bye planned peace, hello real life stress.

Even on vacation, where peace should be “a sure thing,” our minds somehow remember a task we forgot to do before leaving, sending our thoughts spiraling out of control. I call this Toilet Bowl Thinking.

Here’s an example: I remember a bill I forgot to pay.  I think, “is it now 30 days late?  What if I ruined our credit score?  How could I forget that, it was on my list?  Why am I always dropping details?  I must be doing too much.  No, you’re just unorganized.  You have no systems in place to keep track of things.  You are so unreliable and forgetful.  You are pathetic Laura!  You deserve the drop in your credit score.”  

Like water flushing down a toilet, negative thinking spirals downward, becoming harsher and meaner.  It’s made even worse when the enemy jumps in and employs his own tactics like name calling and trash talking lies. What we think about has a direct impact on our attitudes, actions, and the outcome of our days.  

But we don’t have to put up with this Toilet Bowl “stinking thinking”.  We have a spiritual practice that can replace spiraling criticism with God’s truth that restores our peace.

When you find yourself trapped in negative thought patterns, stop like we do at 3pm every day, and invite God into the mess or madness.  He promises to always be available, anytime, anywhere.  Simply stop and pray, “God, please get involved in my crazy day.  I need your help here.”  Then thank Him for jumping in.

God will draw near to you when you call on Him.  He longs to be close to you on good days and bad, when you’re running late, stuck in traffic, or beating yourself up for a mistake you made.  God will calm your nerves, give you patience, restore peace and remind you who you are to Him.  

The next time your thoughts are in the toilet, look up to God and invite Him in.  He has an amazing way of taking the broken, messed up parts of our lives and using them for His good. 

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