I heard an interesting story from a meditation app that I use.
Here’s the story:
A professor wanted to teach his class an analogy about thoughts . He had a small glass of water that had about 6 ounces of water in it. The professor asked the class how many ounces of water was in the glass and the class guessed from 4-8 ounces. Then, the professor held the glass of water straight out in front of him and he asked the class, “What will happen to my arm if I held this glass up for about 1 minute?” The class looked confused but one of the students replied, “Nothing will happen.” Then the professor asked, “If I held the glass up for about an hour what will happen to my arm?” A different student replied, “Your arm will probably have a terrible ache.” After that the professor asked, “What will happen to my arm if I tried to hold my the water up for a whole day?” Again, another student replied jokingly, “You will probably have muscle paralysis and will have to go to the hospital.” (Little did that student know the impact of what they said.) The professor asked another question, “Did the weight of the glass of water change?” The students replied no of course. The professor this time asked, “What made my arm ache if the weight of the water didn’t change?” A student replied, “How long you held the glass.”
How easy it can be for us to dwell on a negative thought. But little do we realize that dwelling on a negative thought for a long period of time can potentially paralyze us. It is imperative for us to put the negative thoughts down (just like the glass of water in the story) so this will not happen. This is why God wants us to take every thought captive and make it obedient to him (2 Corinthians 10:5). How do you do that? I have a suggestion, but it is important to search the Scriptures regarding any subject I bring up. One way to lay the thought down is to remember Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.” Trust that God knows your thoughts and trust that he has your life in his hands. Having trust in God brings alot of peace. After you have done that, commit Philippians 4:8 to memory, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.” Replace the negative thoughts with positive ones. Be blessed and encouraged!
Butterfly Goddess Perspective 