Stop Gnawing the Bone!
Be still and know that I am God.
(Psalm 46:10 NKJV)
It had been one of those weeks when it felt like my brain was actively trying to kill me. Problems kept resurfacing and I kept stewing over them. By the time Friday came, I was irritated and exhausted. A friend once told me I think too much. He is 100% right; I do. I turn things over and over in my mind, trying to work out a logical solution or a better way to handle the problem.
Many times friends have told me to “let go and let God.” So I did, for about two minutes. Then I got concerned maybe God was busy and didn’t have time, so I helpfully took back my worries and gnawed them again.
Friday was a day off for me that week, so I told God this time I really was going to hand everything over to Him. I was going to spend the morning in peace and solitude, listening for His voice. (Here is a word of advice: don’t tell God you’re going to do that unless you are ready to hear from Him.)
I reached for His Word. The first scripture I landed on was, “words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit – you choose” (Proverbs 18:21 MSG). Ouch! The message was clear. Stop with the negative thoughts.
The next scripture was, “be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10 NKJV). That was telling me to stop thrashing around and beating myself over the head. A theme was starting to emerge.
Then I landed in Numbers 13 where the spies were reporting back to Moses what they saw in the Promised Land. Ten men came back with negative reports. Only Joshua and Caleb came back with a positive report.
“Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses, and said, ‘We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it’” (Numbers 13:30 NIV).
Guess who were the only two that got to enter the Promised Land.
Here is my takeaway and life lesson learned. When struggling with problems that keeping playing over and over in your head, quiet yourself before the Lord. Just be still for a while. Stop speaking and thinking negatively about the situation (yes, this will be hard to do and those negative thoughts will rise again, but squash them by going back to God’s Word). Peace will come to your heart; your pulse rate will return to normal, and you will be able to breathe.
This doesn’t mean you won’t repeat this pattern of behavior. I have no doubt I will gnaw the bone again in the future. However, having been metaphorically slapped upside the head by the Holy Spirit, I will stop, re-read this passage, and apply the lesson I’ve learned.
As I was writing this, I had a visual of my problem right in front of me. My dog was gnawing on a rawhide bone she had been dragging out day after day. Despite it now being totally revolting, she won’t let it go. I got the message.
