THE BOARD ROOM IN YOUR HEAD

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. - Proverbs 3:5, 6

We enter as the climatic conversation reaches its passionate conclusion...

Teary-eyed and panicked, she concludes, "Look, I don't understand why all this is happening!" Her sympathetic responder chimes in, "Don't worry, God will not leave us nor forsake us!" The sympathizer then turns from the mirror with her anxious side a bit more assured.

Okay, we may not all admit to talking to ourselves, but we've all struggled at some time with internal voices. Filling our heads with doubt, uncertainty, fear and even worry, even the best of us succumb to their half-truth assessments. But a CEO of a utility company once shared this delightful insight: "There's always a board meeting going on in your head... you may not be able to shut them up, but you can control the agenda of their discussions and ultimately you have the final say."

With regard to "the final say," may I add, the true issue deals more with semantics than with circumstances. Simply, it's not about the why, but the "how." Take the above dialogue. I've asked myself on many occasions, "why, Lord! Why is all this happening?" Before I have a moment to breathe, a board meeting has convened in my head, taken up a vote and decided depression or discouragement would be the best recourse over my circumstance. But that's not "HOW" God calls us to conduct our "meetings."

At the first sign of "why," we are called to trust, to lean, to depend. We trust Him because we don't understand. We lean on Him because we are weak. We depend on Him because we would be lost otherwise. Anxious thoughts may call a board meeting in our heads, but our agenda operates within the realm of God's sovereignty because the "whys" of life will happen. Isn't that why the meeting was called? Loved ones will endure hardships. Friends will not always listen to wise counsel. We will struggle over life's issues. How we choose to deal with those issues gives us the final say over anxious thoughts.

A woman underwent chemotherapy. Given little hope over her optimistic outlook, she arose from slumber to find almost all her hair clumped on her pillow. Her morning routine found her in front of the bathroom vanity. In the mirror, she found three strands reflected atop her head. "Ooh! I think I'll wear my hair braided today!" she exclaimed. The next morning, the same ritual. Only this time, her locks were down to two. "Ooh wow! I haven't worn pigtails since I was a child!" she squealed with delight. Same routine the next morning. When she gazed into her trusted mirror, a lone strand remained. "Ponytail, it is!" was her response. Day four was not so kind. When she made her way to the vanity, she saw no hairs upon her head. She looked slightly puzzled for a moment then concluded with a smile, "Boy, do I look great bald!"

This isn't about the circumstances. Remember, they will happen much like a board meeting convenes. How we choose to control the agenda will determine the final say. Learn to choose God's word over the circumstances and He will "make your paths straight."