Take Every Thought Captive

We tend to let our thoughts, feelings, and mood be shaped too much by personal circumstances, and by news and cultural trends.

Back in the late 1800s, when America was moving West for our Manifest Destiny, when the world was absorbing Darwin's new thought of evolutionary progress, people were prone to optimism.  Onward Christian Soldiers!  

But after the Great War, the mood changed dramatically.  We saw what carnage nations and machines could and would wreak on humanity.  

On a personal level, how out of sorts do we get when the grocery store line is longer than usual, the car needs repair, your toddler missed their nap and now he's cranky!

In our present cultural moment, I strongly believe that Christians are overly prone to discouragement and pessimism.  We are letting national events and shifts away from God shape us more than we should.  We let the media convince us "this is just what everybody thinks now," when they don't.  

And more importantly, we aren't letting the Word of God shape our thoughts and outlook.  

Here are some things we know for sure, from the Bible:

1. God is all powerful, knows you intimately, and is working everything together for your good.

2. The only One whose opinion matters in the end is God, and He favors you because of Christ.

3. Governments and societies can be beasts that grind up, maul, and kill Christians for their faith (Revelation).  But God will put a stop to that and punish it in the end, when Jesus returns in victory.

4. Meanwhile, Jesus is on the throne in heaven.  Earthly thrones and offices don't hold a candle to Him, in their enduring power and influence.

5. Your eternal destiny is secure in the Lord Jesus.  Pinning your hopes to a candidate, or to winning the culture wars or an election, is a recipe for being "tossed to and fro" (Ephesians 4:14).

Try an experiment some time: time how many minutes a day you take in the Bible or solid devotional or theological literature, and compare it with how many minutes a day you take in news or commentary on culture or politics.  You might be surprised at the result.

This is part of why we let our thoughts, feelings, and mood be shaped too much by personal circumstances, and by news and cultural trends.