I got a phone call on Monday from Heather, a good friend of ours who used to sell ads for HM. Her husband is a good friend of mine, and their kids are the same age as ours, and they spend as much time as they can together. (The point being that we love them dearly and want the best for them, good things to happen for them, etc).
So, Heather calls to get the Bloodgood's phone number, as Michael and his wife and their two youngest sons were in Austin recently. They always visit once or twice a year to see their oldest son, Paul, who is one of the best dancers in the Austin Ballet. The Bloodgoods came over to the office on Sunday after church, where we cooked burgers on the grill, hung out, and even played a game of kickball out back. Heather and her husband, who've gotten to know the Bloodgoods from their annual visits over the years, obviously wanted to hang out with them, too.
As I was getting the number, I "hear" this thought in my head that says something like, 'I hope their plans to get together with the Bloodgoods fail.' This was followed by another thought, which asked, 'WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!?!' That was a crazy jealous thought, wasn't it? I equate that thought with the kind of evil broadcast of thoughts common to us all, like the hateful, 'If you had a gun, you could kill that guy,' or the lustful, 'That's a beautiful woman in line at the store, she would be a good sex partner.'
I've had conversations with people about some of these random evil thoughts that our brain picks up on like an unwanted pirate radio station. A sister confided in me that sometimes while she's rocking her baby these hideous thoughts of violence and murder enter her mind. I think this is some sort of cosmic spiritual warfare. We shouldn't feel guilty for having these thoughts, only if we harbor them or turn them in our head, developing the "plot" and fantasizing about it. Maybe they're planted or suggested by real evil spirits, hoping to trip us up and watch our behavior go down the path of the tested-over-time methods of these mental "hooks" or something.
I don't know, but I felt stupid for even acknowledging that this thought entered my head. Of course I don't wish for my friends' plans to fellowship with my other friends to fail. These friends aren't my exclusive property. That is the most ridiculous, immature thought ever! That's insane.
There's a verse that gives some structure to this whole "thoughts in our minds is the battlefield for spiritual warfare" idea:
"Take all thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ."
There's been times that I've actually quoted that verse out loud (like muttering or whispering them under my breath), and have seen that act help me out of a jam I didn't want to be in or a thought or two I didn't want to see "lingering around" in my head. It's like we can't help having a crazy thought float into our head, but we are responsible for "flushing" that craziness out, resisting the thought, or "casting it out" of our minds. Weird, huh?
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at May 18, 2006 10:29 AM