Alone With Our Thoughts

A number of years ago I heard a quote from Pascal (the French mathematician, not the actor in every other movie currently). In effect he said that all of man's problems can be stemmed from his inability to sit in a quiet room alone. I know some of you are already cringing thinking about it. I mean, try it sometime. Go in a room, no cell phone, no tv, no laptop, no one else, just you and your thoughts. Sounds fun, doesn't it? Maybe a little sarcasm there.

For me, I prefer sitting outside over sitting in a room. And in all honesty, I've had the chance to do that some here lately, and there really is something refreshing about just sitting outside without any agenda of thoughts. Yet, it can be frightening as oftentimes our thoughts are not good. Why then would Pascal say such a thing?

If we're honest, at least many of us, struggle with anxious thoughts. Taking away the distractions of technology, those thoughts come flooding in. What do we do with them? Well, in short I think it's an opportunity to do what Peter says.

"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:6-7

But, I think the driving force behind this blog today is simply that I think it's healthy for us sometimes to decompress our minds. Thinking is good, but I do think some helpful guardrails are important.

The first one to come to mind is Philippians 4:8: "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence, and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."

Unguarded thinking can be dangerous in many ways, and so I'm certainly not suggesting that, nor do I think that's what Pascal was hinting at, that we should just let our minds wander into oblivion. But undistracted thinking about God, His word, what He truly thinks of us (not what we think of ourselves per say) can be truly beneficial.

Take what the Psalmist says: "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty!" Psalm 8:3-5.

But undistracted thinking about God, His word, what He truly thinks of us (not what we think of ourselves per say) can be truly beneficial.

And consider also Psalm 139:6, where David ponders God's attributes: "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it."

There's much that can be said on meditating on God's word and His character. But for now I'll just suggest you try it. Disconnect, get alone, sit outside with your thoughts. But guard your thoughts with God's Word. You might find you like it.