Have you ever been under the assault of negative
thoughts? These thoughts could scare you, trouble you, and give you anxious and
nervous moments. It used to happen to me on daily basis, though much less in
intensity and frequency these days.
Long time back, when I was still new to car driving,
it used to occur to me that all the cars coming up in the opposite direction
are coming straight at me! But for the voice of the Holy Spirit from within me
assuring me that they are not, and that I should keep on driving, I would have
been a nervous wreck! Such thoughts do not come to me any longer as I drive my car,
may be because I am good at it now. So did fear cause such thoughts to come to
mind?
One Sunday afternoon, some 10-12 years back, when my
son was still in Bangalore, doing his Bachelor in Engineering (BE), we went for
shopping as usual and he was driving the car. I went out of the car to pick up
some eggs and on return opened the door and sat in the front seat next to him.
I let out a whelp, as the thought came to my mind that I had just sat on a
bunch of eggs, but I had not! From where did that thought come?
Even recently,
when there was a pain in my left foot in the bone near my big toe, I started to
imagine that it is a case of excess calcium and bone growth in that region,
needing frequent operations to remove the growth and panicked for a moment. Such
is the power of negative thoughts or imaginations that sometimes what you fear
really comes to be and you then wonder. Sounds familiar?
The question is why does this happen to us? How do
these worrying thoughts come to our minds? People end up getting wrong
suggestions, wild imaginations about some impending doom, mental picturing of
an argument with a friend, leading to a break in the relationship, some health
issues and so many such negative thoughts. Do they come as sudden thoughts from
within us? Or does someone else put such thoughts in our minds? I am not
referring here to cases of acute depression or schizophrenia, or Bipolar
disorder. I am talking about what normal people go through in everyday life.
Rebacca Brown, who has written two great books on Spiritual Warfare, mentions that these negative suggestions are made by
demonic forces. We think that these are our own thoughts and we act upon them,
leading to usually bad and disastrous consequences. According to her, demons
cannot read out thoughts or what is going on in our minds, but are experts in
implanting unwanted thoughts in our minds. That is another reason why we are
asked to rebuke demons aloud, so that they know what we are saying.
It could also happen because of our temperaments.
Human beings in their psychological make-up are made in a certain way, so we
see many personality types. Of course it depends mainly on our genes and genetic
make-up. Some are Sanguine types, and are outgoing, ever cheerful, ever
optimistic, wanting always to be in the company of people and moved suddenly by
emotions either to cry or to laugh aloud, but they are quite shallow in their
feelings. Such people are the centre of any party or group usually.
Some are Choleric and are born leaders, enthusiastic,
strong–willed, self-disciplined with great ambitions and are successful in their
professional work. They are also very self-sufficient and independent. On the
flip side they could be opinionated and very stubborn.
Then we have Melancholic types, who are moody,
reserved, wanting to be alone and withdrawn, and a pessimist. They have morbid
introspection tendencies and are usually self-centered. But they are
perfectionists, having higher standards of excellence and are quite creative
and gifted. They are dependent and are loyal in relationships.
The last being Phlegmatic, is the lazy guy, who hates
to work, but loves to recline and rest, usually have no ambition, but are
efficient as they work slowly but persevere in what they do.
One could be a mix of two types or more of one type
and less of another type or a mix of more than two types. Whether one is
pessimistic or optimistic, plagues by negative thoughts or bright and cheerful
thoughts, will also depend on their personality type. It is good to find out
your personality type, for then you know why you behave in a certain manner in a
given situation and not like another person, who behaves entirely in a different
manner given the same situation. It is good for parents to know the personality
type of their children so that they understand them better, and know how to
deal with them.
Now coming back to our problem of negative thoughts
what do you do when you are plagues by such thoughts? What is the remedy?
For one thing, we can refuse to accept such thoughts and
replace the negative thoughts with positive ones. As Jesus said in Matthew
16:23, you can also say aloud, “Get behind me Satan!” You can add further, “I
will not take this nonsense from you!’
Norman Vincent Peale’s books on positive thinking were
so very popular in the 60s and 70s, but a more reliable guide I have found out
is the Holy Spirit who comes to abide in you, the moment you accept Jesus
Christ as your personal Savior and the Lord of your life. There is a beautiful
verse in the Bible, Isaiah 30:21, which says,
“Whether you turn to the left or to the right, your ears
will hear a voice from behind you saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’”
The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, will lead you in
the right path and in the right thinking, as long as you yield to Him.
Another wonderful promise, which is powerful to ward
off the negative thoughts is, 2 Timothy 1:7,
‘For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of
power and of love and of a sound mind.’
This verse when repeated acts as a great moral
booster, for God’s words have power. We do consider Bible as the Word of God,
don’t we? I resort to this medicine often and it works wonders.
Lastly, the verse, 1 John 4:4 assures us that
“He who is in you is greater than the he who is in the
world.”
The one in the world, ruling the Fallen world is
Satan, the chief of the demons; the one in your heart is the Holy Spirit, the
very Spirit of God and the One in the Triune God.
What more do we need to fight the negative thoughts?
We have the promises, assurances and the presence of the Holy Spirit within us,
as effective weapons to fight and overcome this plague of negative thoughts and
emerge victorious in our lives. God grant you victory.
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