My dog, Scout, is terrified of thunder. Anytime there is a rumble in the sky he runs for cover. The problem, as you can imagine, is that you can’t actually hide from thunder. This, however, does not stop him from trying! He crawls behind a half open door, he goes into the bathroom and wedges himself between the toilet and tub, but alas, the thunder can still find him. He runs around, his little nails clicking annoyingly on the floor, looking for safety.

We always try to soothe our nervous little dog. We tell him it’s alright; we pet him and whisper that he is a “good boy” (my other posts on Scout will show this is not actually true). But it matters not, because none of this helps. He is frantic. His beady eyes are even more crazed than normal. He will not be calmed, he must run around looking for shelter from the noise that is attacking our home. Perhaps it is better outside, he scratches at the door. Despite my best efforts to tell him it’s actually worse out there, he must see for himself. Sure enough he is instantly jumping at the door with muddy paws to get back inside.

Do you have invisible fears? Is there something that has you franticly running round? Do you look for safety, not behind a bedroom door, but in a bank account or job security. While you would never wedge yourself behind the toilet (I hope!), do you make sure you have enough money, supplies, friends or connections to keep you “safe”?

We want freedom from our entanglements or we long for more security. Inside or outside, we still have the same fears, the same longings, the same insecurities.

I have written several articles on my dog, Scout. He has much to teach us on doing it wrong. The truth is I often see myself in his mishaps. He pushes his doggie nose against the window longing for what’s outside and then once he has broke free of the constraints of the home he wants back in. Isn’t this us? Give me freedom, no wait; I want security! We long for what we don’t have and then pine for what we’ve left behind. Scout is very good at pining. He will lay for hours at any closed door only to immediately want out of said room once he achieves entrance.

We shake our heads at his antics, but really, how often do we act like a crazy dog running from thunder? I want to tell Scout, you can’t hide from a loud noise, but he will not be convinced.

What do we run from? What are the loud noises that have you running for cover?

For me it’s a lot of the what ifs. What if this person is just using me, what if I get lost, what if I get sick, what if I don’t have enough of . . .

I spend a significant amount of energy imagining hypothetical situations. Imagining the worst. Getting worked up and fretting over what could happen, what might happen, what I fear the most. The thunder of my fears shakes the frame of my house and I can’t find a safe place to land.

Maybe like me, you have had the worst happen so it doesn’t necessarily feel like fiction, but just being practical. Being prepared because sometimes the worst does happen. That loud cracking storm isn’t just a bunch of noise, but produces lightning and it actually strikes the ground setting your whole life aflame. Storms can do real damage, uprooting our lives and blowing them all over the place. We are left cleaning up the mess for day, weeks and even a lifetime.

As a side note, since I started this article (some weeks ago) there have been many real disasters in the lives of our close family and friends. I even thought about abandoning this piece; maybe Scout is right after all? More than ever lately, I’ve wanted to run and hide from the thunder, as life has proven that it is sometimes followed by a very real storm. So I proceed hesitantly on this topic, as the Holy Spirit keeps nudging me through Bible study and prayer, that we cannot live our lives like a scared Jack-Rat Terrier mix (I’m convinced this particular breed was never meant to exist). I blame the Fall. So, if we are subject to the evils of this world what are we to do? Hide? Shake in fear? Refuse to be comforted?

The Bible does not teach me to do any of the above, so I have to ask myself should I carry on with this article by faith and not by sight?

How about you? Are you walking by sight? (It can look pretty bad) Or by faith?

Most storms are just seasonal with some rain and thunder, maybe some sideway fireworks, but not a tempest to blow through our lives. How do we quell our fears and what ifs? How do we lay down in the storm and sleep at night, instead of pacing the house with our tongues hanging out (or is that just Scout)?

The ways I don’t want to be like Scout are many! I don’t want to let every loud boom shake my faith and steal my peace. I don’t want to run around when I can lay down in green pastures (Ps 23).

So what still rings true—even after a storm has struck or is threatening us in the distance? Well, the promises of the Bible echo down through the ages.

We are not, however, promised happiness and easy times. I checked; it’s not there. But we are promised peace in the storm.

Wait! What? This isn’t exactly what I’m looking for.

Jesus tells us in the Gospel of John that while we will face hard times, we can face them with peace because He is in control. I assume He tells us this because it won’t feel this way. We will be tempted to think the train has fallen off the rails and nobody is in charge. Yet, He knew we would need this reassurance. Like a terrified dog we tend to seek shelter in all the wrong places. Hiding behind a door, say, to save us from thunder. But because the Bible tells us that God knows the end from the beginning, we can actually sleep at night. “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” (Is 46:10) “And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee; fear not, neither be dismayed . . .” (Deut 31:8)

And here is one of my favorite verses; one I memorized as a teenager, wrote on a card and hung over my bed. It’s probably the verse I can most readily bring to mind—it’s truly hidden in my heart.

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33

Now, what I wish it said, is something like, “Dear Christian, it’s only smooth sailing from here. You will only be happy all the time and get everything your heart desires.” But, alas the promise is different and if we really examine what Jesus is saying we can see that it’s actually a far deeper promise; it cuts through the noise and distractions of life to the heart of the matter, which is eternal peace and security. Fair weather comes and goes, as do storms, but if we can claim His promise of peace, our boat won’t be rocked quite so hard because our eyes will be fixed on the firm rock of Christ and not the choppy waters of this life.

The promise of peace is ours for the taking, but how do we get to it when we are cowering in fear? The disciples ran to Jesus. In Matthew 8, we learn about a time when they were crossing the sea and a storm arose and the wind and waves began to beat on the ship. Jesus was sleeping in the back of the boat and they woke Him, crying, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” How often do we run to the Lord saying, “God don’t you see what’s happening in my life?” Don’t you care?” Jesus arose and rebuked the wind and told the sea to be at peace and suddenly there was a great calm. Then he says to his close companions and disciples, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”

Right.

Why am I so fearful?

I do have faith, but it is often so weak. “Lord, I believe but, help my unbelief,” was the cry of the father in Mark 9:24. How often is this the sorrow of our hearts? Help us Lord to believe the promises you have given us, even when we can’t see them. We can run to the Lord, appeal to Him as our father. He will answer; sometimes in our spirits (our hearts), sometimes through His Word or a teaching, or perhaps a friend to remind and comfort us in the hope that is ours already.

“And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.” (Ps 39:7)

We can seek Him out in the Bible where we are reminded of these promises of peace and even joy in the storms. We are beckoned to pour out our hearts in prayer, knowing He listens and cares. The true blessing is not, after all, in the ease of life or the way things work out, but in the relationship itself: we are safely tucked away inside the arms of our Saviour. Our spirit can rest and even sleep during a storm, because unlike Scout, we know that God is in control.

Further Reading:

Fuzzy Hope

Why Struggles are Important

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When negative thoughts show up in our thinking

Invasive species are unwelcome organisms that show up in a place they don’t belong. These uninvited intruders then proceed to cause trouble and damage to the environment because they don’t want to comingle; they want to take over. I remember as a student, we learned about zebra mussels and how they were coming into Lake Michigan and wreaking havoc. What is interesting about them, though, is that they don’t do much; they just cling, No one notices or thinks much about these unassuming fingernail-sized mollusks. This is how our thought life works. We are sailing along and we don’t even notice invasive thoughts moving in on us. Maybe it’s a little voice that says “you aren’t good enough, or someone else would do this better, or look what they have or you have every right to act this way.” We quietly agree with it without hardly noticing, like a little crustacean attaching to our mind. It’s not really doing any harm . . . right?

Just as it takes years and generations for an invasive species to really settle in, the same is true with our inner thought life. Perhaps generations of people in a family have agreed with an invasive thought. “Nothing ever works out for us, it will always be too hard, we mess everything up.” Some may have grown up hearing people in their lives say things that put them down right from the start (these negative thoughts have been passed down the family tree). If someone, especially a person of authority, like an older family member or teacher plants an unkind seed in our minds we often water it over the years by repeating it to ourselves until it grows into a dark vine that poisons our thinking. (Now, of course, the same is true of good thoughts—we bless others when we speak the words of God over them. This is a great ministry and think of the benefit to family generations.)

The concept of Invasive thoughts had never even crossed my mind until a few years ago. I just assumed the way I thought was, well, just the way I thought. I never considered that the enemy (sometimes through other people) was slowly trying to take over my thinking. If he can get a foothold in my cognitive life, I will be much more vulnerable to temptation. If I think I’m no good and not worth much why wouldn’t I move into depression, anger or unkindness. If I think I’m a failure why would I try to be useful to the Lord. If I can’t do anything right why would I try to help others. The invasive thoughts have taken over and will start to control my environment. Not only will they spread quickly, they will get a stranglehold on good thoughts.

We recently moved into a new house and my neighbor asked me how I felt about the ivy growing at the edge of my property. Well, I’m a big ivy fan so I told him I really liked it. He proceeded to tell me how he had introduced the ivy in his backyard, thinking it would be good ground cover, not realizing, because it wasn’t a native species, that it would take over and kill the other plant life, including trees! Gasp! These thin, pretty little green vines could take down whole trees? Sure enough he showed me how the ivy was already growing up one of the trees and it was in fact losing limbs. I felt instantly conflicted because I really love ivy. I mean an ivy covered building is beyond charming. But! I also love trees. What a picture of my internal struggle. I don’t really want to get rid of the invasive thoughts. I have become comfortable, even grown fond of them, like the ivy vines.

I am a pessimist after all and that is just fine with me. If you read my last post on my struggles with joy, you will know I do not naturally find the joy in life. Looking on the brighter side seems exhausting! How do people do it? My negative thoughts or self-talk had snaked their way through my brain so that the truth was being squeezed out. The enemy is afoot! He works his way into our brains, convincing us that these thoughts are our own and not warfare. The best way to take down a country, a company, a person is to attack from within. If the opposing side can plant someone on the inside, half the work is done. It’s hard to make it over the borders or walls, but if someone is already inside wreaking havoc, it won’t be long before barricades are rendered useless because the infiltrator can simply open a door or a channel to the enemy.

Do you have an open door for the enemy to enter your thought life?

Have you ever examined your inner voice? Is it even yours?

Do those thoughts belong there?

The Bible teaches us that many, if not most, of our battles start in our minds. Before something manifests in our physical life, it was a tiny seed or simple crustacean hanging out unnoticed. Jesus talked about how, if we sin in our minds, it as as if we have sinned in the flesh. (Check out the beatitudes in Matthew 5) Why did he say this? Is it actually the same thing? If I think about stealing or lying but don’t actually act on the impulse, surely that is better then going through with the act. But I believe Jesus’s point was that these thoughts, if not dug out of the soil of our minds, will go on to produce dark fruit. If, however, we plant seeds of truth and allow them to flourish they will produce a hedge of protection against self-sabotage, harm and brokenness. These are the borders we need to put in place to protect us from these invasive thoughts. Because they will come!

We have to start by reading the Word of God so that we are filling our mind with truth; this alone will push out many of those killer thoughts. Colossians 3 says to set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth (v2) . . . Put to death therefore what is earthly in you (v5). We need to pray and ask for help in knowing the difference between what is our thoughts (a.k.a. the enemies) and the thoughts the Lord would have us dwell on. Psalm 19:14 says “let the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord my rock and my redeemer.” Also, we need community to encourage us along the way. Finding a church, a Bible study, and a believing friend are essential to keeping back the invaders.

Be ruthless with these thoughts, rip out the ivy, scrape off the barnacles before they take over. Cut them off, burn them in the redeeming flames of Christ’s love and fill the holes with the voice of the Shepard. Jesus says my sheep hear my voice. He, although at times is convicting, is never condemning. (We desire change because we love the Lord and trust that He has good things for us). God asks for change (to the point of death to self) but he does not ask us to do it alone. The Lord has provided us with all the tools to carry out this near impossible task . . . my burden is light and my yoke is easy. Pick up your Bible, get down on your knees, reach out to other Christians and start to change your thinking and your life. You are made in the image of God, bought and paid for at great cost, not without hope, not without purpose. He has a plan for you and it is for good.

Romans 7:23 “But I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.” esv

Want to read more on this topic? Check out these articles

The Hitch: Feeling Stuck?

Soul Wounds: Do You Have Any?

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