What? (Silence) Oh no! (Silence) (Silence) What I’m going to do? (Silence) That won’t work. (Silence)

Have you ever been so caught up in a situation that it consumed your mind in such a way that you could not focus on anything else and you actually started to converse with yourself silently or out loud. People say it’s OK to talk to yourself, but just don’t answer yourself. You know, the mind can play some serious tricks on you. It can make you think the worst of things and most of the time, this occurs when something negative has suddenly impacted your life or some hasty groundbreaking decision has to be made. And at that time, you don’t want to share it with anyone, because really, you don’t know what’s going on.

And before long you too are trying to figure it out. Instead you go through a series of questions and answers in your mind trying to figure out your next move. This negative thinking just keep echoing in your mind in a repeatedly way. You keep hearing the “what ifs,” “the how comes” or the “why, why whys?”

And at that point, you jump to a conclusion. For example, you had a doctor’s visit which included some tests that were run. You get home from your hectic day, settle down and find out that you had a missed call from the receptionist. Immediately, your mind goes into overdrive and you think the worse.

“I must have cancer. I must be dying. Who will take care of my family; my children they are so young.”

There it goes again, your mind is playing tricks on you. Then finally, you reach the receptionist, only to discover that you forgot to sign your check. Now, you saying to yourself, it was nothing. You thought, I was worrying for nothing and didn’t get any sleep.

In reality, if it had been bad news, how could you have changed the result? The Bible tells us not to worry? Can we add length to our stature, no.

Now you realized that you should have just gone to bed with the assurance that whatever the situation was, God had it in control as long as you believed. So why do we entertain and waste time on negative thoughts. Negative thoughts have caused some to go into a depressive state and even others to commit suicide. The Word tells us that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. We must be mindful of our thoughts so that we will not become overwhelmed with the unknowns. We must learn to train our mind to put positives thinking in place of negative thinking when obstacles come up against us.

Saying a prayer or singing a song sure can block out the negative mind thinking. Give no place to the devil. What I’m saying is don’t allow your mind the opportunity to run you crazy for no reason, instead, rely on God in time of trouble.

So the next time your mind plays tricks on you with the negatives, say silently or out loud — that’s a lie, no, not so, I’m trusting in God that he has it all worked out! Watch what happens, the negatives will be gone.

Again, resist the devil and he will flee. (Silence) OK, I thought you weren’t talking to me. (That’s what you tell your mind)

Beverly Gibson is a Ferriday resident.