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No ifs, ands, or buts—I’m an overthinker.
For fun, I looked up the definition of an overthinker. The Merriam Webster dictionary app on my phone says this. “To think too much about (something)—to put too much time into thinking about or analyzing (something) in a way that is more harmful than helpful.” Yes, that’s me.
Are you an overthinker?
I would venture to say that we all suffer from overthinking at one time or another, especially when our lives go through difficult or stressful times, which, let’s be honest, is a good portion of the time if you are a human being and reside on planet Earth. Speaking for myself, I do much of my overthinking when I should be soundly asleep. But that seems to be when I’m most vulnerable, and when the devil likes to launch his assaults on my peace and my faith.
I also know that, as a Christian and a believer in Jesus Christ, I’m not supposed to worry or fret about things. After all, we are told in 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline.” (NLT). So, why then do I/we overthink? Again, it’s a ploy of the evil one to make us question our faith and resolve to place our problems and situations into our Heavenly Father’s very capable hands.
This morning, I went for a drive with my wife, as we often do for cheap entertainment. We grabbed a coffee at our favourite brew house and soon thereafter found ourselves parked at a discount store. My thrifty wife ran inside to procure a bargain or two, and I sat in the car and kept the air conditioning on because the temperature was rising exponentially. Oddly enough, but not surprising to me, my thoughts began to overprocess, and the overthinking began in regards to a recent dilemma that I was dealing with.
As a distraction, I opened my phone and began to scroll through Instagram reels. Wham! This verse showed up on my screen almost immediately, and it smacked me like a ton of bricks directly from heaven: “Overthinking will kill your peace. Pray and leave it to God, for he cares about you.” (See 1 Peter 5:7)
I immediately snapped a screenshot and vowed to write a devotional, hence the one you are now reading. From experience, I am acutely aware of how overthinking can destroy the peace that God desperately wants to provide us with. This verse reminds me of how to deal with overthinking and should be top-of-mind each time my inner sanctity is threatened.
I urge you and myself to memorize this short verse and to use it as ammunition when our brains take flight with overthinking. With God’s help, as we place our trust in Jesus, I believe these 16 words are capable of transforming our thoughts from turmoil to tranquility.
Our brains will thank us!
Paul Smyth
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