I was out for a walk recently, listening to a sermon, when the following passage caught my attention:
“You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!” —Psalms 139:16-18
I was struck by the phrase, “How precious are your thoughts about me.” For some reason, I had never given much weight to the fact that God actually thinks about me. And not only that He thinks about me, but that His good thoughts for me outnumber the grains of sand.
I looked it up, and there are up to 1 BILLION grains of sand in just one cubic foot of beach—and His thoughts outnumber every grain of sand on the planet!
My takeaway was this:
𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬.
I’m a recovering perfectionist and a chronic over-thinker, so my thoughts about myself are not always the kindest. They can quickly drain me, and a depleted and discouraged heart doesn’t bear the best fruit.
But what if I take all of the energy I use to think about myself and use it to think about Him instead? What if I am intentional to fix my thoughts upward every time they get stuck looking inward?
Whether positive or negative, my thoughts about myself are never as productive as thinking about Him. Because when I intentionally shift my thoughts to Him, I remember that my God is robed in majesty and armed with strength, and His voice thunders over the sea and shatters the giant cedars. He does not faint or grow weary. There is none like Him, and none beside Him.
As He comes into focus and I fade out of focus, my heart overflows with praise and worship. I drop everything to hear what He has to say, listening intently so I can obey. I sit in awe and wonder before Him, singing my way into His presence with joy. I am filled to the brim, ready to proclaim His love and His goodness with my whole heart, and my whole life, from my innermost being.
At the end of the day, who and what I choose to think about is just that—a choice. God has me covered, so I’m choosing Him.
Grace Waves 