I used to live just one street over from the bluffs that rise up over the Missouri River. I’m familiar with its power. My kids and I loved to walk down to our historic town’s riverfront to stand at the banks and throw rocks and sticks into it. Sticks were our favorite because we could see just how swift the current was. It also gave a strict warning to my children to never play in that dangerous river. The sticks are always quickly rushed along with the rushing course of the river, too fast to ever retrieve back.

Even before raising my family in that town, I grew up there myself. My mother was never comfortable with us getting too close the river. Living near many smaller rivers of current and enjoying outings with my friends in rafts and canoes was something I’m sure strained her heart and soul. It’s only now that I understand how quickly things can go wrong in a fast-paced river.

Last summer our family took a class 4/5 white water rafting trip on the Chatooga River on which I fell out at a place called “seven foot falls.” The fierce power of that river called up a tight, white-knuckled grip on my paddle and one of the longest prayer vigils of my life.

I respect the beauty and the danger of rivers just as I have also learned to respect the beauty and danger of our rushing river of thought. Respecting the beauty and danger of something calls for a response. We take care when we are near a dangerous river and we should take care with our thoughts. My question this week is pointed at this care.

How am I regularly caring for my river of thoughts?

Psychologists refer to the activity of our mind as our “stream of thought” because it flows through our consciousness like moving water. Maybe that psychologist who coined the phrase was a man because, I think most women agree, our thoughts are more like a rushing river than a stream. We seem to be capable of multiple thoughts going on simultaneously and from various areas of life. At least my husband would agree that there is a difference between us in regard to that!

Whether you are a man or woman, you’ll agree that some thoughts that run through our consciousness have the ability to bring happiness and some bring pain. While we can plant thoughts in our minds, we also, quite often, experience thoughts that come out of a response to an experience. The origin of these thoughts may be or seem to be out of reach. We may not be able to turn off the thoughts before they come raging down the river and surprise us. We can, however, influence them before they come rushing through.

To protect our hearts, souls and minds we must guard the river of thoughts rushing through our consciousness. We can do this by adding the right thoughts. 

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, 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.” (Philippians 4:8 ESV)

We can take action and control our thinking by going on, what I like to call, playing offense.  Instead of waiting for a bad thought to come, we can take the responsibility that we are called to in God’s Word and put in what we want to show up in our thinking. This is really a way of turning toward Christ throughout our day and loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

How would our hearts, minds, and souls be changed if we lived out the reality that we have an amazing privilege and freedom to turn to our Lord and speak living truth into ourselves at any moment of every day?

What kind of truths am I talking about?

Remembering times when He worked all things together for good in scripture…
His promises and also His commands in scripture…
Truths about who He is and about who we are in Him…
Remembering the times when we have seen Him work all things for good in our own lives…
Offering praise to Him for His gifts and blessings…

It is good to do this in response (defense) when we are under pressure or struggling or even in response to good things. What would happen, though, if we practiced this regularly throughout the day, not just in a response mode.

Here are some questions we could ask ourselves to help move us toward this.

What would I need to do to begin a habit like this?

What scriptures, memories, and praises could I meditate on?

Is there a time of day that I could use to intentionally turn toward the Lord and put some right thoughts into my rushing river?

What tools would help me with this?

He has called us to this. There is time for what God calls us to do.

That Missouri River just keeps rushing along past the bluffs and the little town I grew up in. I’ve moved to a town just twenty minutes downstream and it still serves as a reminder to me of the rushing river of thoughts and the danger of not respecting it.

We must respect it for the thoughts we put into it shape a very important spring that’s fed from that source. Our heart. Yes, our heart is the wellspring of life.

Like the Missouri River rushing along nearby my home, the river of thought must be respected as a source that can be both potentially beautiful and potentially dangerous.  

How can I seek to make it more and more beautiful?

And what if we struggle to do this?

Well, that is why Jesus came. He didn’t come because our thoughts are pure and perfect. He came because He knows they aren’t and that we can’t rescue ourselves. He came so that we could have a never-ending fountain of pure water, a fountain of life, and streams in a wasteland. In Christ, we have access to a different kind of stream and it too feeds our heart, the wellspring of life.

Ask Jesus to enable you and help you to remember all that is in His Word. He has given you the Holy Spirit as counselor to help you remember.

Is there something you put into your thoughts regularly? Please share in the comments! Next week I will share more on this and a tool that is helpful for me.

Asking questions is a great way to coach yourself and your loved ones. How could you use this question this week to help you, your spouse, a child, or a friend?

If you are a parent who struggles with how you’re thinking or how to parent well, I have a great book for you called Like Our Father.

Instead of focusing on parenting techniques, this book is about who God is, who we are in light of that, and how His character forms our parenting. I’m having a drawing for this book from my e-mail newsletter list on May 21st! Sign up before then for a chance to win Like Our Father by Christina Fox. All of my subscribers will be entered!

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If you are experiencing parenting frustration, I would love to work with you on that. I offer a free initial consultation and affordable coaching to women. Please visit my website or send me a message so that I can answer any questions you have about coaching.

amy@cornerstonechristcenteredcoaching.com

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