Obstacles to Thinking Differently
October 9, 2009 // By: Bob Hamp // 6 Comments
It’s been a week or so since I have “thought differently” If I am completely honest it’s not just that I have not written, I have not been thinking differently. I am recognizing some obstacles to the kind of thinking that sets us free.
Obstacles…sure…but I also realized a common thread among them all.
Here are a few of the obstacles that have been in my way this week.
1. Busy-ness: Need I say more?
2. Frustration: I have been focused on some things outside of my control, that I wish would change.
3. Fear: I begin to doubt that God is ultimately in charge…and if I believe He is I must doubt that He is good.
4. Pain: Some of the things I have been focused on are dear to my heart, and so it hurts when I do not see God’s resolution.
5. Compulsion: Not like the pathological type, simply the “requirement” type. I “should” or “ought to” do something. Nothing makes me not-think-differently than Law.
6. Disconnect from God: Add up the above five, and you have great potential for disconnect.
So what is the common thread?
All six of these things make me feel tight in my chest. I know, simple right? Like I inhaled a little Black Hole or something, and it is sucking life from my being. I don’t mean to be dramatic, but I realized that my chest has felt tight all week. And I have not been thinking differently. Coincidence? I think not!!
I have been thinking a lot, but it has been frustratingly not differently. In fact it seems to make my chest more tight. Today I got some breathing space. God snuck up on me in my car, this morning and told me that He likes to rescue those who have tightness is their chest.
Could it be that when my chest is tight, the part of me that thinks differently is constricted? My friend Dr. Caroline Leaf says that our heart has brain cells in it. A whole cluster of them that process input from the “head-brain”. Like the legendary “walnut-sized brain” of the Tyranasaurus Rex, I think my heart-brain got compressed this week. Like I put it in a trash compactor or something.
Starting this morning, I have been rescued again from me. From thinking like the old me.
6 Comments
God absolutely amazes me daily.
This tightness is one thing I suffer with on a daily basis and I have had doctors check me out and nothing is ever wrong. Just one more thing I need to hand over to my God and let Him take care of…thank you!
Thanks … this was so good. I had my own “ohhhh moment” and let the Lord put His finger on heart was I was not thinking differently. Much needed, much appreciated.
When people tell me stories like the one you told about God sneaking up on you in the car, I like to say to them, “YOU are The Favorite!” And you are.
Thank you for sharing this. I love when God sneaks up on me! And need to think differently more often.
Yeah, so I’m a little late in reading this one. Better late than never, right? Plus, it just must be my time today to read it…perfect timing???
“God snuck up on me in my car…” this line brought such a smile to my face because it drew a vivid mind picture for me of God sneaking up on your in your car and be so excited to catch you by surprise with His presence.
I know that not thinking differently is the focus of this blog, but you got me thinking of God’s desire to put us back on the track and the creative ways He finds to do so.
Could I have had any more typos in that comment. Ugh, I hate when I don’t proofread my comments before posting them. Shame on me!