You’re not even worth a slice of pizza, Julie! Believe it or not, that thought played through my mind recently and I’m not joking. Although I am laughing it off today because I recognize that it was an exaggerated and Intrusive Thought, it was a very real one that played over and over in my mind throughout the night. When I am feeling vulnerable, it’s easy to set my sight on things of this world, like finding value in my professional life, to give me some type of validation that I matter, that I have not wasted my life investing in an organization, but then Intrusive Thoughts creep in that try to convince me otherwise.

When I experience these low moments in life, when I’m overwhelmed with the realities that come as a part of living in a broken world such as seeing friends face health challenges, the death of loved ones, and discouragement over personal and professional struggles, it’s easy to allow Intrusive Thoughts to invade my thinking. However, I also experience a You Too? moment when a pastor shares a message, or an educator authors a book, that reminds me that they, too, are vulnerable to experiencing these inaccurate messages and offer some helpful strategies for counteracting messages from the Enemy.

Angela Watson offers her perspective and experience of dealing with Intrusive Thoughts in her book Awakened. Watson shares, “As I poured over the scriptures, I realized it was my mindset, my perspective that needed to change…The only factor that you have complete control over is your mindset: the way YOU think and perceive things, and the way YOU choose to respond. If you want to create meaningful and lasting change in your job satisfaction, the best place to start is with your own thought patterns and attitude.” Watson continues to encourage this idea of an Improve Mindset that arises from Carol Dweck’s work with her suggestion to “Make a choice to focus on what’s completely within your grasp, the one thing that will impact how you experience everything else…your mindset.”

Along this same line of thinking, pastor Levi Lusko reveals some insight in one of his messages that researchers have found that “we have on average 500 Intrusive Thoughts per day. Each one lasting more or less around 14 seconds. If you do the math, that adds up to about two hours per waking day.” So, if we examine that intrusion throughout a lifetime, how much of our lives are spent allowing the Enemy to steal, kill, and destroy our thinking? Lusko admits that we can’t stop these Intrusive Thoughts from happening, but in sharing the advice of Martin Luther, “You can’t stop birds from flying around your head, but you don’t have to sit still long enough to let them build a nest in your hair.”

Both Watson and Lusko remind me that just because the thought, I’m not even worth a slice of pizza, popped into my head does not mean that the statement is true. If I truly desire to live a flourishing life, I can grasp ahold of Romans 12:2 and remember: ‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will (NIV).” In other words, when those Intrusive Thoughts arrive, I can acknowledge they are there, test them against what God tells me is true, reframe the thought, developing a new mindset. Watson shares that reframing or transforming our thoughts “allows us to let go of thoughts that are limiting and open ourselves up to new possibilities.”

Perhaps there are only a few of us who become unwilling participants to the invasion of Intrusive Thoughts, but based on my reading and research, I opine it happens regularly with all of us. Personally, I find that Praying Promises is a helpful strategy that allows me to transform my thoughts, but maybe you have a suggestion that might be helpful. Would you please consider sharing in the comments below?

References:

Lusko, L. (2024, January 7). Make up your mind. Part 1. [Audio podcast]. Fresh Life Church. Retrieved from https://freshlife.church/messages/make-up-your-mind/

Watson, A. (2011). Awakened: Change your mindset to transform your teaching. [Kindle version]. Due Season Press.