NOT Thinking!
Living like a temporary Nomad is an exercise in letting go. Living on a “need to know” basis easily fans the illusion of independence. I’m surprised by how readily I crave the security of knowing my next move so I can feel in control! The Lord is saying, “You are in what feels like upheaval. Don’t be afraid NOT to think about it.” Hmmmm, now there’s a fresh idea! What would happen if I stopped thinking about circumstances? Isn’t it obvious? The thoughts that chase me in circles have no power to change the situation. Yes, I believe I’ll take a new approach – I won’t think about it anymore.
A different approach is being offered and I get to prove its validity…again! I’m receptive because even though the language is familiar I know I haven’t mastered the message. In lieu of thinking about my situation I will observe it and remain quiet by keeping all judgment far away from it. I will give the fresh approach a chance to reveal its own value.
I am happier when I notice, watch, and learn from “what is” rather than thinking about how I can change “what is” into something else. The key to higher thinking is in NOT thinking – so room is made for God to fill the space with His higher thoughts. I may think my current condition needs to change. God thinks it’s perfect just the way it is. I think it’s bad. He thinks it’s good. I think it’s hurting me. God thinks it is healing me. I think it’s standing in the way of my journey. God thinks it is my journey.
Thoughts are addicted to the abstract of change. They look at a situation – judge it good or bad – then immediately analyze remedies and improvements. The reason thought can’t help is because the truth is…nothing needs to change. All is as it should be. The compulsion to change my circumstance is rooted in the illusion of an incomplete nature. Judgment uses the feeling of being incomplete to strengthen the false need for change. I end up trying to change the very things that are in my path to perfect me. Struggle is a part of the process. I live in perfect imperfection where both impotence and capability become divine manifestations of Christ in me – they work together to bring me to maturity.
Not everyone sees the power of weakness; many shun frailty or pass judgment on the flawed by demanding change (ultimatums rarely work). I would not want to miss the budding life of Christ in anyone (or in any one area of their life) simply because the full fruit is not yet hanging on the vine. If I’m going to take the liberty of judging a tree by its fruit then I’d do well to make sure I’m looking past the flesh and deep into the heart – remembering that God alone knows the heart of man.
Relationships that are judgmentally abusive are not healthy; they keep me “thinking” I need to improve. If I still judge myself, demand my own change and punish myself when I’m incapable of producing it, then I will take that same abuse from others. If I believe I’m defective, I’ll stay close to those who help me to feel bad about myself. The abuse will feel normal because it is mirroring my own opinion.
Nothing needs to change – which doesn’t mean that nothing changes. Change happens; but I believe how change happens is often misconstrued. I remember when someone was tired of my apologies. I was repeating the same mistakes even though I vowed to change. I was told, “Susan, change isn’t change until it’s changed.” I was dismissed for my inability to manufacture change. Here I am (decades later) and I find the statement is true; and yet to complete the saying I would add, “change isn’t change until it’s changed…and it isn’t changed until the lack of change has changed all it hopes to change in me.” In other words, I can’t change simply because I want to. There is a greater work in motion and I do not control the seasons.
When I consider that nothing needs to change then I enter the atmosphere where change can occur. I rest, for God is continually at work in me causing me to will and to work for His good pleasure. He who began the work is faithful to complete it. I trust the finished work of the cross and the “little leaven” that is leavening my whole being. I can trust that God has won, and Christ is the life now living in me. Once I’m convinced that I am incapable of changing myself then I can trust God with this that He calls “me.” It is THEN that I can walk away from judgment’s abuse and all the thinking that goes along with it!
