I’m ready for action!
What kind of action you may ask? Honestly, I’m ready for all kinds but I’m ready to shop! Really Gina? Bear with me…I’m ready to shop but a well-timed trip to Costco or another store, where I will be waiting in a Disneyland-style queue, has lost its appeal! As this season of COVID-19 carries on, I find myself antsy, longing to change my view, change my thinking, to wander in stores and simply browse. My eyes want new things to look at, to see new options for the room I just repainted or the garden that has been recently reworked. I want to shop…but I am not a shopper! My daughter ranks among some of the best, let me tell you! I last about 10 minutes next to her expert pace. But even still, at this point in the corona game, I’m ready to shop a little!
In this season, I have been doing some deep soul searching, with much time to analyze and reflect. God is wanting to change my thinking, continuing to reveal yet another layer of my inner tapestry that needs adjusting or shedding. Admittedly, while I enjoy thinking deeply about spiritual or psychological things, I often shy away from the honest application for myself. I like to stick with what is familiar and stay in the lane that is comfortable, easy and well known. My discovery reveals that, here too, I am not a shopper.
Stuck! I don’t know how to change my thinking!
I am talking about ‘thought shopping’. How often do I stay in the same aisle, in a particular pattern of thinking because it’s all I’ve known, or what has been modeled for me? The way I look at a particular issue makes sense to me or I conclude that I have no choice but to make the meaning I have. This is how I have thought over the course of my life but here and now, I realize I need some serious re-evaluation. How do I live an empowered life, one that is engaged and thriving? At times, I will get stuck in the default aisle again, but for now, I’m ready for something new, something fresh and life-giving. Don’t get me wrong – just because a thought is ‘old’ doesn’t make it wrong or in need of change. I hold to the unswerving authority of the Bible and it is the most ancient of books, but I am talking about patterns of thinking that aren’t serving me well.
I’m pretty comfortable here…
Let’s say that I love to shop in the ‘less than healthy’ aisle – chips, chocolate, rich dips, decadent desserts, cheese, heavy cream…you get the picture (sounds good hey?) I think we can all agree that a steady diet of these items would lead us straight into all kinds of problems: weight issues, blood pressure concerns, complications due to high cholesterol or blood sugar, not to mention compromised fitness and inconsistent sleep. It doesn’t sound like a good place to do the bulk of my shopping. Upon closer analysis, I discovered that I often shop here when it comes to my mental health. I make choices regularly that are unhealthy, unproductive and actually dangerous to my well-being. I perpetuate a victim mentality by choosing to blame others. Blindly, I feast on beliefs that say I am unworthy or not enough, unknown or invisible. Sitting and spinning in a vortex, I wonder, ‘How did life get so difficult? Why do I feel so alone, so lost, so stuck…and how in the world do I get out of here?’ Can you relate?
It’s time to change my thinking!
This is where I needed to look to another aisle. I needed to find healthy alternatives, options that would allow me to find a different way. I dared to believe empowerment was possible and started to take steps in that direction. As a believer in Jesus Christ, I have the Spirit of God within me and therefore, the mind of Christ working for me. Consequently, I then have access to an empowered, truth-filled, nourishing feast before me at all times. I want to shop there! Walking in that aisle reminds me that I am loved and made with purpose. This new path shows me I have been created and I bring delight to my Creator. The items in this row are not cheap but the price has already been paid and freedom previously purchased on my behalf. This is the truth I want to sink my teeth into!
What if I mess up?
I have the choice in every minute of every day to choose where I shop – in the junk or in the fresh food section. Am I tempted to run back to the ‘chips’ when I suddenly feel triggered? Absolutely! When I wake up and a familiar heaviness greets me, do I want to roll over and hope the barrage will just go away? Yes! Change is hard, but I have to believe that God’s truth will bring life…goodness knows ruminating in the junk food wasn’t getting me very far. So, I get up, pick up the Word and remind myself again who God is and how He made a way for me, how He will lead me on the path He constructed. I will dare to believe that He knows better than I and trust that He will work this out. One step…one choice at a time, I can choose differently. I will stumble. I will eat garbage. BUT I don’t have to stay there! I am empowered to make a change and live the life that God is calling me to.
What now?
How about you? Do you resonate with this faulty shopping and long for something fresh and healthy, something infused with the life-giving truth? Have you said to yourself or someone else recently, “gosh! I need to change my thinking about this”? Consider one step that you could make today:
- set aside time to have a hard look at your unhealthy thinking patterns
- communicate with God about these discoveries
- talk with a friend to establish support and accountability as you begin to change your thinking
- talk to your pastor
- reach out for professional help (www.ginabalzer.com, www.mercyseatministry.ca)
One step at a time…we can do this!
