Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:07 Welcome to our class on anxiety and the gospel
Speaker 1 00:00:11 Today, we're going to be talking about what it is to carve a new path that is going to help get us to where we are supposed to be going and help get us further
Speaker 2 00:00:23 To our purpose
Speaker 1 00:00:25 Because you see the paths that we are walking on in our mind, the paths that our thoughts, our cognitions, the synaptic communications in our brain are taking us on. They lead us in a direction and it is ever so important that we are making sure that the direction that our thoughts are taking us on is getting us towards our goal,
Speaker 2 00:00:50 Which is our purpose,
Speaker 1 00:00:52 Which is the build the kingdom of Christ, which has to reflect him in everything that we're doing. So many times. We see the verse of John 10, 10 coming to life in our stories. And John 10, 10 Jesus says that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I have come to give you life abundant, and we are all too often familiar for what it is like to walk a path continually, and our thoughts to think the same thought over and over again, seeing that as become a well worn path, but that it is leading us to a place that we never intended to go. That has nothing to do with our purpose and is actually quite confusing as to where we're supposed to go from there.
Speaker 1 00:01:42 And you see this well-worn path, I believe with my whole heart, that it is often the Genesis of so much that we experience as a burden in our mental health, whether that is OCD, different anxiety disorders are different disorders that have to do with depression. These thoughts that we think whether it is automatic, negative thoughts that we call ants in the counseling world or cognitive distortions that are creating these traps and these distractions, we are walking the same worn path, even though it's not getting us to where we want to go. And after, while walking that same path can actually begin to feel like we are stuck
Speaker 2 00:02:24 In a rut, and
Speaker 1 00:02:26 We do not know how to get out of that or what our next step could be to make a change. So in our conversation today, I want to talk about what it is to begin to carve that new path that leads us in the direction of that abundant life that Jesus is talking about when he's introducing what he offers to us in himself, how do we carve that new
Speaker 2 00:02:55 Path?
Speaker 1 00:02:57 When I was in high school, I had the opportunity need a gentleman whose name is min Chi. I mean, Kaia is a part of a wood Dani tribe that used to be referred to as the OCHA Indians. And in 1956, I mean, Kai made a choice to spear and kill part of five missionary men who had come to a small little beach on a tributary of the Amazon river to share the gospel with them, knowing that the way that they were living their lives, which was known as savages. That's what the word AKA meant that they needed to understand the power of the gospel and that this could be their hope that this power of the gospel could begin to allow them to walk God's path and carve a new path for their own lives. And in that experience I had, when I was in high school, on a freshman in college, it was actually quite a journey to get to be with my new friend min Chi and all of his people.
Speaker 1 00:03:54 We took a plane, we took a bus, we took a Cessna. We ended up taking several assessments actually. And we took a canoe and there on one of the legs of the journey, we had to hike an as, as we were hiking, we knew where we wanted to go in at the beginning, there was a, there was a decent path that was going to get us there. But I believe the experience of part of that journey that the Lord gave me is actually meant for so many of these counseling moments when I've been sitting across from you in the counseling room and as we're what we're talking about today, and that is that at one point in the journey, we got to a part where the path was actually going to continue to take us in a direction that we did not want to go.
Speaker 1 00:04:38 That was not going to get us to our purpose. And it was not going to get us to our point. So the men who were from the tribe that were leading the line, they took out their machetes and they began to carve a new path. And let me tell you that was extremely hard work, but in many ways, it became very clear to me that it was important work because we can no longer continue down a path that would not lead us to where we were trying to go, which was to understand and spend time in community and connecting with this group of people that God has done a mighty we work in.
Speaker 2 00:05:19 So we had to make a new path and little
Speaker 1 00:05:21 By little hat, a new path. The ground was still overrun with foliage. There was no path to follow. It was awkward. At many times, the branches were still sticking out. It was still sharp. There were leaves and foliage in your face as you were going through what we persevered. And we continued to go in the direction of our purpose, even though it was not anything we had ever done before. And it was very clear and the wall of the Amazon rainforest, that it was not a path that anyone had ever taken before, but there we were carving that new path. And the reason that we have to take it seriously to look at the paths that we are walking on in our minds and in our thoughts, as soon as we have to be dedicated, when we are trying to deal with anxiety, when we are looking to deal with our depression, we have to be dedicated to see what is going on in our mind and the way that we're thinking and the way that we're walking these paths. Are we just thinking of the same thoughts because they are so familiar to
Speaker 2 00:06:31 Us,
Speaker 1 00:06:34 Or are we willing to take a new step, to create a new path, to carve sometimes a new path that is going to get us to our purpose and that can bring about healing and growth. And you see, one of our greatest hopes is that modern brain science is continually showing us that whether or not we are on these paths that aren't working for us because of the choices that we've made in our thinking, or because of chemical or hormonal imbalances, that we have a choice and an option to infuse hope and changes in the way that we think and what path we choose to
Speaker 2 00:07:13 Go on. So
Speaker 1 00:07:15 In our conversation today, I hope that you will continually be thinking that you have a say
Speaker 2 00:07:22 On what path you choose to take with every thought, with
Speaker 1 00:07:26 Every little synaptic, skull, electric and chemical and hormonal communication that goes on in your brain. It can be very, very overwhelming and you can feel under it and it can be challenging, but you still have an opportunity
Speaker 2 00:07:44 To make a new choice and to carve a new path.
Speaker 1 00:07:50 I want to talk about two strategies that can help us begin to carve this new path because you see when we are a new creation in Christ, we have no other opportunity, but to begin to create and walk new paths. And this is a sacred journey. When we realize that we are not created for our minds to be a free for all, and for them to make the decisions of where we were going. But second Corinthians 10, five, as we discussed before, talks about taking all of our thoughts,
Speaker 2 00:08:24 Captive to Christ.
Speaker 1 00:08:26 And so our first strategy is that we grow in awareness of what our thoughts are that are leading to our feelings and that therefore leading to our behaviors. And so for me, I want to give you an example. Oftentimes one, the world seems to be getting not the world at large, but even the world in any room that I'm in. And particularly honestly, with parenting things start to begin to feel like they are out of control. There is a little message that comes in my mind that I need to fix this. And that message not only tells me, wait, you need to fix this. That message actually begins to tell me, this is all up to you. This is up to me, right? This is up to me to fix this, right? This is out of control, I would say, but it took me months, if not years, to understand and grow in awareness, then that thought comes to me that it is about my self-sufficiency my ability to make a change, my ability to control a situation and my ability to honestly be my own savior and the savior of those around me, in those moments
Speaker 2 00:09:39 And all of those thoughts, they're all eyes.
Speaker 1 00:09:42 This is not up to me. I probably have a part to influence and to help in that moment. But when the weight of this situation rests on my shoulders and in my hands, you oftentimes will actually see my shoulders actually go up to my head because it gets so heavy for me to try to figure out in that moment. This is all up to me. But as I have done the diligence and very hard work to understand that thought that is lying to me, I have taken it captive
Speaker 2 00:10:14 And how I see it.
Speaker 1 00:10:15 And I'm so much more aware, not that I'm perfect in any way, shape or form, and knowing what to do sometimes with that thought, when I begin to see it, but I'm so humbled in that moment to be able to understand
Speaker 2 00:10:28 This is not up to me.
Speaker 1 00:10:31 This is up to the Lord. I own not my own savior. And I am not the savior of this moment. Either. We have a savior, his name is Jesus, and I want him to be present in this moment. I want it to be doing this through his strength, not through my own self-sufficiency in this moment. So that's an example of what it is to take that thought captive, to see that these thoughts are running around. They're trying to lead me on this path that honestly, most of the time, just amounts of pure ugliness coming out of me and to lead me to a place to begin to carve a new path of, no,
Speaker 2 00:11:07 This is not up to me. I want to be an instrument.
Speaker 1 00:11:12 I want to be a vessel in this situation, but this is in the power and the control and the sufficiency of the grace of Jesus Christ,
Speaker 2 00:11:21 Nothing to do with me. So that's our first strategy.
Speaker 1 00:11:25 And our second strategy is that as we begin to examine all of these thoughts that were taken captive, and I know if you're anything like me, when you begin to see that these thoughts and you begin to take them captive, it's a very overwhelming process for me. I actually have to do that from pen to paper, trying to almost lasso these thoughts and begin to take them captive. I can't judge them and be like, oh, I want some embarrassing that I think that, and try to pretend like it's not part of what I'm thinking. I have to be honest with myself in that process. And I have to write it down with no judgment, just allowing it to be as ugly as it could possibly be. And as I examined this as my second strategy, I began to identify, is this something that is helpful for me to continually be thinking, and then therefore feeling out of, and then therefore acting out. And is this something that is actually helping me to walk God's path math towards being a new creation? Or is this something that is continually me back on the path of my flesh? And so I want to share with you a scripture that has been extremely powerful and impactful for me to make the decision of what do I continue to dwell one, as I walked this new path, and that is Philippians four, verses eight and nine, and the verse says,
Speaker 2 00:12:49 Finally, brothers, whatever is true.
Speaker 1 00:12:53 Whatever is honorable. Whatever's just, whatever is pure. Whatever is lovely. Whatever is commendable. If there is any excellence, if there's anything than a praise, think about these things, what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me
Speaker 2 00:13:16 Practice these things and the God of peace will be with you. Okay?
Speaker 1 00:13:25 So as I began to study and try to understand, there's a promise at the end of this passage, the God of peace will be with you and it takes practice. And what are we practicing? We're practicing all of these words. And I was taught early in my counseling education that if we begin to look at this as almost a gatekeeping verse, it has a lot of opportunity for power to be in, to carve this new thought. And so we begin to look in verse eight as each of these descriptive words as a gate that we're walking on this path, it helps us identify what are the things that we can think on because he says, think about these things, let these things be the things that go over and over and over in your mind that these truths, that these beautiful, lovely things, this would be what begins to carve your new path.
Speaker 1 00:14:20 So here we have our path. And if we begin to look at this passage, Philippians four, eight, and nine, we begin to see that it naturally lays out what we call sometimes the gatekeeping verse and allows us to decide is this thought that I've taken captive, something that I can continue to think on because he tells us all of those words, if it passes these gates, right? That's a thought we get to think on. And that is a thought that is going to live, lead us to peace in verse nine. So let's take my example from earlier as I've taken this thought captive that I have sometimes. And I see in my mind that I believe that the chaos of this situation, whatever it may be, this is all up to me. I want to fix it. I want to control the situation. And it's all up to me. If I take this thought and I look at this first gate and I see is this true for this example, I have to come to grips with the fact that this is not a true thought.
Speaker 2 00:15:22 My
Speaker 1 00:15:23 Belief about who God is and what he says about me through my study of him, the scriptures helps me to understand that actually these moments are up to him, that it is by his sufficiency and his grace, that anything is going to happen. My self-righteousness and my ability to fix something. Although I oftentimes I'm invited to be a vessel and invited to be an influence and invited to be a participant in it. It is not all up to me. It does not rest on my shoulders. I actually like that true is the first gate. Cause I'm not going to lie sometimes as I'm working out the gate verse in my own life, there some different messages in lies that seem to be actually true, and it can feel a little rewarding to make it to this gate and be able to be like, boom,
Speaker 2 00:16:08 It's true.
Speaker 1 00:16:10 But we have to continually be honest with ourselves to be able to assess is this true? And for me feeling like this is up to me, it is not. So the next verse and the next gate is being able to see whatever is honorable. Can we continue you to walk our path and see that we can get through that? This thought, this belief, this cognition
Speaker 2 00:16:35 Is honorable.
Speaker 1 00:16:37 Can we begin to see that it is just, can we begin to see that this cognition, that this thought okay, is
Speaker 2 00:16:43 Pure? Is it lovely? And I will be honest
Speaker 1 00:16:48 That lovely gate. I think if you can lie all the way through the other ones about yourself, when you get to a thought that is lovely, it is very hard to take something that is so for your destruction and actually persuade yourself even that this is a lovely thought. We then get to the fact that this can mendable. Is this something that is excellent. And is it worthy of praise? Is this thought that you are having worthy of declaring to those around you in a matter that they would be able to look back at you and be like, oh
Speaker 2 00:17:23 Yes, that's a great thought
Speaker 1 00:17:26 Because you see this path, where were we where we are aiming to go, is that we're aiming to get to a point where we are living in a way that this new path that we are walking, as we go through these gates, it leads to peace. And at least to beginning to see that our anxiety is being calmed because these truths and these lies, they're in an epic battle in our mind for the ground and for the pathways and for wearing us on this old path or helping us to form this new path that is going to lead us or our purpose and lead us to where we are trying to go. And so my hope in this conversation for you and for myself is that as we identify, how is it that we make a new pathway, that we can begin to make sure that we are taking our thoughts, captive, that we can continue to see that we are battling them in our minds to be able to see,
Speaker 2 00:18:30 Oh my goodness, there's
Speaker 1 00:18:32 A good level of deception. I see the destruction that is being meant for my story as Jesus talks about in John 10, 10, and I no longer choose to take paths that are leading me to places that have nothing to do with my new story in Christ that have nothing to do with who I have been created
Speaker 2 00:18:54 To be.
Speaker 1 00:18:56 So I hope that you will continue to join us as we continue our discussion and anxiety and the gospel, my hope and my prayer for all of us today is that we would do the hard work to begin to carve the new paths and that we would see that the power of the gospel we'll
Speaker 0 00:19:12 Continue to show up and allow us the grace to walk those until next time, press on.
