What To Do When Your Brain Won’t Shut Off
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
Psalm 46:10
Psalm 46:10 is one of those verses most Christians know by heart. It’s a good coffee cup verse, one that goes on t-shirts and tumblers. However, it’s also one that most Christians struggle with. It’s like our brains won’t shut off.
I don’t know about you, but when I’m still, when everything around me calms down for a moment, I don’t usually take the time to remember how awesome our God is. Instead, my mind starts going a million miles a minute. I go over my to-do list. Start stressing about finances. Rehash that one time I messed up when I was in the sixth grade… And today I’m wondering if I’m not alone in this.
When the world around you stills, where does your mind go?
When the world around you stills, where does your mind go? Click To TweetAt night, when I’m lying in bed, my mind is at its worst. I’m trying to relax and go to sleep, and my brain is trying to start a marathon with fifty thousand thoughts racing through my head. Most of the time they are useless thoughts: worrying about things that haven’t happened yet or pondering on situations in the past I can do nothing about.
So, what’s a girl to do?
Related Post: 5 Bible Verses to Help You Sleep
3 Steps to Take When Your Brain Won’t Shut Off
1.) Replace Your Thoughts With The Truth
The first thing we can do when our brain won’t shut off is to counter our thoughts with the truth. If it’s something in the past my brain is bent on rehashing, I can replace those thoughts with the truth. It happened, there’s nothing I can do to change it, and it wasn’t the end of the world.
If I’m anxious about something that’s yet to come, I can remind myself that worrying doesn’t help the situation. That’s the truth regardless of what I’m worrying about.
which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
Matthew 6:27
Any thought I get stuck on can be countered with a truth. But that’s just the first step I take when my brain won’t shut off.
2.) Pray About It
The next step we can take when our brains won’t shut off is to take all our anxious and tumultuous thoughts before the Lord. In the stillness, we can know God is God of all and He can handle anything our minds throw His way. So we can take all our thoughts to God in prayer.
The best part of praying about it is that when our minds start to wonder, we can bring them right back to Jesus with a word of prayer. We don’t have to beat ourselves up because we were distracted, but use that distraction as a prayer prompt.
3.) Set Your Mind on Things Above
The third and final step to take when our brains won’t shut off is to set our minds on things above.
Instead of letting our thoughts lead us, we can lead them by rehearsing memory verses, pondering on the sermon from the past Sunday, or name some of God’s attributes.
But What About You?
What do you do when the world around you stills and your mind takes off like a rocket? Do you struggle with that like I do? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
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If your prayer life isn’t picture perfect and strong enough to rival that of the apostles like Paul and John, this is the book for you. Ladies, It’s Time To Reclaim Our Prayer Life.
I know I think too much. I have to seek His peace and let God be God. He has to make me lie beside still waters and renew my soul.
Amen! Several years ago I heard someone say that we aren’t always wanting to lie down in green pastures and it’s so true. He has to make us be still.
This is great! Picking up a Bible to get your mind on other things is a wise idea. How often do we mull over and worry about things and forget that God’s got this? Thanks for sharing.
Exactly! Thanks for stopping in, Rebecca.