Get Out of Your Head

Sometimes I just want a little peace and quiet.

I like to get away and breathe, process, and put my thoughts together—but more often times than not, the noise comes with me. It isn’t the cars driving by or the notifications on my phone that take the most attention, it is the constant drum of internal dialogue that keeps me from that quiet place.

My brain seems to want to think about all the things I need to do at the very moments when I can’t do them. It revs the engine at the red light without anyone around to impress.

But, worse than that are the thoughts of guilt, condemnation, and failure that vie to stand as the king of my mental hill. Of course, anxiety, fear, and uncertainty don’t give ground easily. They claw for supremacy as well.

So, my head ends up being a mess.

I think that is a distinctly human experience. God made us as logical creatures with the incredible ability to dissect situations, interactions, and realities to view them from all angles, carefully drawing conclusions of how our world works.

With the fall of mankind, all that thinking went awry. There are moments of beautiful clarity but also moments of constant mental noise.

I just want out of my own head sometimes.

One of the first scriptures I memorized was Psalm 1. My dad paid me $5 to memorize the entire thing. I still have it down pat. The first few verses in particular are regularly on the tip of my tongue.

Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night (Psalm 1:1-2).

I can’t turn off my brain. So, I have found that the objective to getting out of my own head is not to try and not think but to give myself good things to think about instead—through meditating on the law of the LORD day and night.

In Joshua, as the baton was passed from Moses, knowing all of the struggles that lay ahead, God encouraged him to be strong and courageous. How was he supposed to accomplish that?

In Joshua 1:8, God says, “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it” (NLT).

The strength and courage came not from thinking less (minimizing anxious thoughts) but by filling his head and heart with the Word of God.

If you are tired of the mental mess run amok, don’t try to ramp down the thoughts, but train them on God’s Word. Let “the Word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16, ESV).

How do you do that?

Think about it. Think about it from all the different angles. A great place to start is Psalm 1. How do you know if advice is “of the wicked?” What does it mean to “stand around with sinners?” How can we “delight in the law of the LORD?”

Think about it all day long. Maybe even fall asleep doing it.

Do you know what will happen if you do? I just happen to have it memorized.

You will be like a tree planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Your leaves will never wither, and you will prosper in all you do (Psalm 1:3)

That sounds pretty quiet and peaceful. Yeah, I want more of that.

To read more about the study of God's Word, visit Pastor Dylan's post "Meditation—The Key To Happiness."