Guarding the Heart Through Thought
Miss me? Or are you secretly relieved I haven’t been filling your feed with my blog? Only joking, LOL! I may have seemed MIA, but I promise you that I haven’t stopped writing. I drafted a few posts, but none of them felt right. It was like God was saying, “This isn’t the message I want you to share right now". However, He delivered, and I’m going to do my best to share it with you.
Have you ever opened your computer to do one simple thing, and before you know it, you’ve got a row of tabs stretching across the top of the screen? One for your blog, one for social media, one for an article you meant to finish, another for something you just wanted to “quickly” look up. Suddenly, what started as one small task turns into a cluttered mess of distractions.
Today, I caught myself doing exactly that. I only needed one tab. I was trying to look up a Bible verse for my devotion. But when I looked up at the top of my screen, there were seven tabs open. Seven. I opened one tab and somehow ended up with more tabs than I have fingers, none of which were actually helping me focus on what I had set out to do. That’s exactly what my brain feels like most days… too many tabs open, thoughts racing, one thing leading to another, until my mind feels like it’s running a hundred miles a minute.
And if I’m being honest, it gets even worse when I forget my medicine. Then it’s like every tab starts playing at the same time. My medicine helps me slow things down and stay focused, but even with that help, it’s easy to let mental tabs pile up if I’m not careful about what I’m focusing on.
When I was younger, I was told that anxiety and depression were the root of all my struggles. For years, I accepted those labels and tried to understand myself through them, even as my thoughts often felt like a battlefield I couldn’t quiet. Just like the open tabs in my browser, my mind constantly raced. I had intense anxiety. I would bite my nails until they were sore, worry over every detail, jump miles into the future, and live with a constant knot in my stomach.
I felt depressed, like nothing I did was ever good enough. Peace, joy, and happiness felt out of reach. I felt like I was being held captive. My thoughts controlled everything about me. I would spend time focusing on things that didn’t even truly matter. Even when my thoughts felt impossible to control, God has been teaching me something far bigger than I could have understood on my own.
You see, Satan thrives on us being anxious. When we are doing our best in our everyday lives, those little “what if” thoughts start popping up, planting seeds of doubt and fear. They creep in quietly at first, but before we know it, they take our minds captive, making us question God’s plan, our worth, and even our faith.
In 1 Peter, Peter wrote to Christians facing persecution, encouraging them to cast their anxiety on The Lord and stand firm in the faith. Essentially, he was preparing them (and us) for Satan’s attacks. He warned that Satan “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” – but assured that after trials, God will perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish us (1 Peter 5:6-10).
We often read, “Cast all your anxiety on Him,” but the original Greek word translated as “anxiety” gives this verse even more depth. The word is merimna, which literally means a heavy, burdensome worry or care. Even more interesting, merimna comes from merizō, meaning “to divide.” Satan uses anxiety like a tool to do exactly that. He tries to divide our hearts from God, filling our minds with worry so we forget His care and presence.
Listen closely: we cannot afford to let anxious thoughts or Satan take root in our minds. Satan’s goal is clear—he wants to keep us captive and separate us from God, stealing the promises He has for us, especially the gift of eternity with our Creator. But we don’t have to fall into his trap. We can stand firm in our faith and cast every burden on God, trusting Him to carry what we cannot. Satan wants us to fail. But in Christ, we don’t have to.
Casting our anxieties on God and standing firm in faith is just the first step. To truly guard our hearts and minds, we must also fill them with what is true, noble, and right. That is exactly what Paul encourages in Philippians 4:8: "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise—think about these things."
Our minds should stay fixed on these things, allowing God’s truth and goodness to guide our thoughts instead of fear or worry. When we intentionally focus on what is pure, honorable, and excellent, we starve the lies and distractions that Satan uses to steal our peace, and we open our hearts to the fullness of God’s care and presence.
Just like Peter said, God will confirm, perfect, and strengthen us and all we have to do is focus our minds on these things. We cannot be consumed with tomorrow, because each day has enough concerns of its own (Matthew 6:34). Instead, stay present. Focus on what is true. Focus on God. When we fix our thoughts on Him, on what is honorable, pure, and excellent, we allow His peace to guard our hearts and His strength to uphold us in every circumstance.
It won’t happen all at once, and some days will feel heavier than others. Each time we redirect our thoughts is a small victory. Step by step, day by day, we can face the racing thoughts and the “what ifs” with clearer minds while trusting that each small choice to focus on God matters.
Still reaching,
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