Quote 7 from Oswald Chambers

This seventh quote from Oswald Chambers speaks to the very heart of any believer.

Ever say to yourself, "what if?" "how will I....." "If only?......." These aren't the thoughts we need to be embracing. In fact, in my own life, they are the very words that lead me away from daily seeking God. Before I know it, these thoughtless words lead me to a place of defeat and unrest. I've found God's word to be powerfully true in 2 Corinthians 10:5 when it says, "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." I have found mentally practicing taking thoughts captive like a cowboy lasso's a horse has helped me to get a hold of them. Bringing them back to myself proves useless. Bringing them all back to God provides freedom to walk forward.

Within the past year, there have been storms that could have shaken my very existence. As I considered the storm, set my thoughts on God's word and brought them back to God, I have become stronger. I've seen God provide and my faith has increased.

Here's how I've learned to take thoughts captive in my own life:
a. Is this thought a reality? Or a lie? Does it go against the truth of God?
b. Does this thought show my dependence on God or myself?
c. What scripture can I find to fill my mind with truth?
d. Pray through the scripture and release my thought to God.

What Oswald says about life and how we don't know what the next day will bring is a great way of helping us ask ourselves in times of storm, "who do we trust?" He says,

"There are stages in life when there is no storm, no crisis, when we do our human best; it is when a crisis arises that we instantly reveal upon whom we rely. If we have been learning to worship God and to trust Him, the crisis will reveal that we go to the breaking point and not break in our confidence in Him."
(this quote in bold print was taken from the August 12th page from "My Utmost for His Highest."

Who are you trusting when a crisis arises?