03/10
Turn off the Drip
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)
2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)
Before we go any further, we need to establish something. If you or someone you know is currently battling fear, worry and or anxiety, those anxious thoughts are not from God. God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but 1 Timothy explains the spirit He has given us is one that brings peace and joy. Unfortunately, when our anxious thoughts go unchecked to the word of God they can oftentimes cause havoc in our minds.
A simple visual to help you understand this concept would be a cup under a dripping faucet. Given enough time, even a small, constant drip will eventually fill the cup and spill out over its edges. The same is true of our hearts and minds. Even small continual drips of negativity, fear, worry and anxious thoughts will eventually fill our hearts and minds and spill over and overflow into our speech and our actions. The practical idea here is to turn off the drips we don't want to eventually overflow out of us. Before we can be emptied of the anxious thoughts within us, we need to first turn off the drips that have been filling us with the wrong things. That is what anxiety, worry, and fear are. They are the result of a continual filling of the wrong things that eventually overflow out of our thoughts and into every area of our lives.
What does turning off the drips look like? Turn off the news, turn off the feed, turn off the fear, and tune out the people speaking worry. Stop reading the news for a month, then two. Turn off or cut off anything that is speaking worry, fear, or anxiety into your mind. This may require us to get tough and put up some boundaries, but it's worth it. Instead of the drips we don't want, replace them with the drips we do want. Instead, fill our hearts with words that come from the spirit of boldness & courage who is God. Spend 15 minutes a day in worship while driving to work, read a chapter of God's word before bed, and when negative thoughts come, pray through them. Whatever that looks like in our lives, we need to get practical about turning off the negative drips, and instead filling up and overflowing in hope, peace, and joy.
A simple visual to help you understand this concept would be a cup under a dripping faucet. Given enough time, even a small, constant drip will eventually fill the cup and spill out over its edges. The same is true of our hearts and minds. Even small continual drips of negativity, fear, worry and anxious thoughts will eventually fill our hearts and minds and spill over and overflow into our speech and our actions. The practical idea here is to turn off the drips we don't want to eventually overflow out of us. Before we can be emptied of the anxious thoughts within us, we need to first turn off the drips that have been filling us with the wrong things. That is what anxiety, worry, and fear are. They are the result of a continual filling of the wrong things that eventually overflow out of our thoughts and into every area of our lives.
What does turning off the drips look like? Turn off the news, turn off the feed, turn off the fear, and tune out the people speaking worry. Stop reading the news for a month, then two. Turn off or cut off anything that is speaking worry, fear, or anxiety into your mind. This may require us to get tough and put up some boundaries, but it's worth it. Instead of the drips we don't want, replace them with the drips we do want. Instead, fill our hearts with words that come from the spirit of boldness & courage who is God. Spend 15 minutes a day in worship while driving to work, read a chapter of God's word before bed, and when negative thoughts come, pray through them. Whatever that looks like in our lives, we need to get practical about turning off the negative drips, and instead filling up and overflowing in hope, peace, and joy.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- What practical steps can you apply from today’s devotional to help you navigate this season?
- What are some verses that have comforted you when you are facing anxiety? What brings you comfort in those particular verses of scripture?