Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts

by Jennie Allen

Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.6

James 4

And then in summary he wrote, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”7

When we humble ourselves before God, submitting fully to Him,

regardless of what has kept us away—and regardless of what we were doing while we were away and for how long we allowed that chasm to grow—we find He was...

“Several studies have demonstrated that subjects who meditated for a short time showed increased alpha waves (the relaxed brain waves) and decreased anxiety and depression.”10

We build entire narratives that begin to take on lives of their own, based on assumptions and our overactive imaginations—all because we attend to fears, attend to distractions, attend to worst-case scenarios.

Are we attending to our fear? Or are we attending to the God who promises to be with us? Are we attending to our doubt? Or are we attending to the truth that never changes? Are we attending to our need for control? Or are we attending to God’s plan for us even if chaos breaks into the present reality?

Are we attending to how we compare with others? Or are we attending to the gratitude we have for all God has done for us? Are we attending to our worries regarding our health, our bank accounts, our careers, our spouses, our children, our regrets, our pasts? Or are we attending to the living God?

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden,” Jesus said, “and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”14 Come to me, He says. Be still and know that I am God.

He says we can be good. Not to get some cosmic check mark but simply because our Father is good.

“Father,” we can say to Him, “help me see things not as they seem to me but as they truly are.”

so I will choose to pray instead of fear.

You have the Word, you have light, you have life.

fix your eyes to see and know and understand what really matters. You’re not a victim of your own mind, because if you’re in Christ, you have victory.

We are free. Will we live in tandem with Him, aware of this reality? Or stay in our brokenness? We have a choice.

As counselor and author Larry Crabb wrote, “No lie is more often believed than the lie that we can know God without someone else knowing us.”1

We can’t curl up on our couches, read the pages of a book, pray, and simply will our minds to change. God is concerned not only with the posture of our hearts but also with the people on each of our arms. In terms of fulfilling our mission in this life, we can’t do anything worthwhile alone.

When we listen to lies about our worth, we naturally back away from others.

We feel unseen and unloved, and to protect ourselves from further rejection, we won’t let anyone close enough to change our perception.

Gradually we embrace the lie that we have to do life on our own, that we must isolate ourselves to avoid risking exposure and rejection.

We were made to reach out, to connect, to stay tethered. We were made to live together in the light.

It is not just comforting to have someone else in our corner; it’s scientifically proven to heal.10

When we are faithful to keep showing up for our lives, those lives make room for us.

ask until asking no longer makes you cringe.

if you never, ever say yes to an invitation, those invitations will cease to exist.

Doing life together helps us right our wrong thinking. But we can do life together only if we’re actually together from time to time.

If somewhere along the way you’ve become a decliner, one who declines every invitation that comes your way, then just for today, might you try on a yes for size?

But better the discomfort of a friend holding your hand and your truth than the discomfort of thinking you’re alone.

Be the friend you wish others would be for you.

Because God clothes the lilies of the field and feeds the birds of the air, we don’t need to be anxious about tomorrow.1

Because God has poured His love into our hearts, our hope will not be put to shame.2

Because God chose us to be saved by His strength, we can stand firm in our faith no m...

The very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.5

“Do not be anxious about anything.” Anything? Anything.

What gets most of us in trouble isn’t even real fears. We worry about things that may never happen. In fact, research shows that “97 percent of what you worry over is not much more than a fearful mind punishing you with exaggerations and misperceptions.”7

Truth is the most powerful weapon we have against the enemy, who is “a liar and the father of lies.” So we fight the enemy with whatever is true—meaning, whatever is real!

My feelings are based largely not on what is real but on made-up narratives in my head.

I can’t rely on my thoughts or feelings to hold my faith in place. God holds my faith in place.

I choose to believe God will not allow me to be tempted beyond what I can endure and will always give me the strength to overcome temptation.

I choose to believe God has promised not to leave me, and He always keeps His promises.

I choose to believe God will sustain me in my brightest moments of victory and my darkest moments of suffering.

I choose to believe God knows every thought before I think it and loves me.

I choose to believe God has given me everything I need to live a godly life.

I choose to believe God has accepted me as His child and will never leave me.

I choose to believe God wants me to seek His approval only and release the pressure to please people.

I choose to believe God specializes in taking weakness and using it for His glory.

We remind ourselves who God is, and we cast our anxieties on Him.21 You may have to do this a hundred times a day. And we claim the peace of God as our promise.

Please hear me: no matter how your life looks today, no matter what tomorrow holds, God does care for us.

if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!22

O we of little faith. We are seen and cared for, and there is nothing to fear because God has us.