Recently I’ve been asking for the Lord to renew my mind…Not just refresh or shift but asking for full renewal.
Romans 12:2 “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
I’ve realized this month that I have a brain “condition” and I’ve even given that condition a name. I suffer from a bad case of the Hamster Wheel.
Sounds silly…and it really kind of is when I think about it. My mind will take something small…a fleeting thought, a worry, a comment, a look, a burden, or even a false perception and it will run with it. My brain will turn this thought into something bigger, add to it, create different scenarios even and then keep spinning it until I create this much bigger thing out of something that started so small.
Most of the time I don’t realize my brain is doing it until it is sometimes too late and this once small thing is now big in my brain. The silly part is that often I just spin these thoughts around and around in my brain without moving forward or doing anything about them. I get stuck inside this hamster wheel of thoughts and instead of moving to a solution or breaking out of it, the hamster wheel thinking will just exhaust me to the point of inactivity.
My teammate, Estie, and I were talking about it the other day and she had a good term to describe this condition better: ‘Paralysis by analysis.’
Having an education that includes learning about the inner workings of the brain, I picture a well-worn pathway of synapses in my brain that fire almost automatically from years of activity. Like anything else, it takes less effort to do something you are familiar with and in my case, I picture a circular loop of axons firing round and round in this hamster wheel of thought.
This wasn’t something I was fully aware of until this month, but looking back I can see it has been a pattern for far too long.
But not anymore…I’m taking back my thought life. I’m refuse to let the enemy lay claim over my thoughts and use this well-worn thought pattern to make paralyze me and make me ineffective for the Lord.
I’ve begun to ask the Lord daily for the drastic renewal of my mind. I know it will be a process and it won’t happen overnight, but the Lord has already begun to kill off some of the synapses that have connected this toxic loop in my brain.
Mark 12:30 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
I want to truly fulfill the “greatest commandment” as Jesus calls it, and I can’t do that until I let Him truly transform my mind so I can love him fully with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.
Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever Is true, whatever is noble, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things.”
Here's to taking back the time and brain power the enemy has stolen from me. Pray with me in faith that the Lord will continue to break this chain and free me from the Hamster Wheel condition!
