My pastor in Franklin, Tennessee; Jamie George, during a message years ago explained how men and women think differently. He told us, “Men’s thoughts are like compartments. It’s one thought at a time. We go to a shelf, pull a box off the shelf, open it, and think about that. When we need to think about something else, we put the lid back on the box, put it back on the shelf and open another box.”
I remember being truly mesmerized by this image. I would absolutely *love* to think about only one thing at a time. Instead, I usually have 10 to 15 thoughts running through my mind, simultaneously. I think about what I need to thaw out for dinner; I think about the last thing I wrote and the four things I still need to write, and did I mail the check for the man who cuts the grass, and where did I leave the checkbook if I did write it, and what date is the credit card statement paid online, and I need to sit down and look at the statement again; (ever since someone stole our credit card information and we had so many fraudulent charges, we check our accounts daily) and how did Jesus forgive Peter when Peter promised he would never deny knowing Him, and I need to find a box for all the stuff we are putting in Michala’s care package and when are the new rugs we ordered going to arrive and did I add dryer sheets to the Home Depot list and what time did I tell our neighbors to come over for dinner Monday and how much milk do we have in the garage refrigerator and how many eggs do I need for my cheesecake and I need to order some running socks and we better add dog food to the list for Rusty and what day is Terry’s appointment with the cardiologist and is that restaurant we like on the way open for lunch and the sun is hitting the walls just right I need to color match the paint for that bedroom and did I put toilet paper and clean towels in the back bedroom and bathroom and are we going to have everything done to list our house for sale by the targeted date we wanted and what does God want us to do to honor Him and did I put a date on that pork loin before I froze it?
Jamie said, “Women’s minds are like spaghetti. All of the noodles represent thoughts and they are all intertwined.”
And I wonder why I have trouble sleeping. It’s because I cannot put any of those “compartments” back on the shelf. Oh how I wish I could. My mind often feels like the Road Runner, zipping all around in my head, “Beep Beep” going full speed.
And. It. Won’t. Shut. Up.
But on days and nights when my spaghetti thoughts are twisting and turning my brain around, I claim this verse, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
Oh how I need the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, to guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
When I inhale those worries and thoughts and anxious feelings and exhale them and give them to Papa, one by one, a spaghetti noodle is removed.
Noodle by noodle, Papa removes all of my anxious thoughts. As each noodle is gently sucked away from my mind, peace is granted. And when His peace is granted, my heart and mind are at ease.
Give Papa your noodles. Let Him untangle all of your anxious thoughts and with praise and thanksgiving, lay it all at the foot of the cross.