Rolling my bike to a stop, I surveyed the trail. Just ahead of me, a large tree limb had fallen across it, blocking my way forward. It would have been awkward to scramble over, especially with my bike getting tangled in the foliage. The best option seemed to be going around it, which meant trudging through knee-high weeds and over rocky ground to forge a new path.
On my next ride a few weeks later, the tree was still stretched across the main trail, but the long weeds I’d pushed through were now trodden down. Clearly, others had made the same choice to navigate around the obstacle in the path. Each time I took the trail in subsequent months, I noticed how the new route began replacing the old one. Matted grass gave way to bare patches of dirt; rocks were kicked aside. Over time, the rough trail was smoothed by a multitude of feet and bikes. Within months, the path around the fallen tree had become the main route. It had just taken repeated and consistent use.
Recently, I envisioned that re-routed trail because it illustrates changes I’m making to my thought patterns. I’m not proud to admit that my default mode of thinking tends to be critical, negative, and cynical. Rarely do my natural inclinations lead me to assume the best or to feel confident that circumstances will turn out well. Can you relate? Unsatisfied with my negative tendencies, I’ve been focused on building new neural paths that will point me in a more positive direction.
The desire to change my thinking isn’t futile, there is research that supports what I’m trying to do. It turns out our brains are more pliable than we realize. In her book Get Out of Your Head, Jennie Allen explains the work of Dr. Dan Siegel, a professor of clinical psychiatry. “’Where attention goes,’ he wrote, ‘neural firing flows and neural connection grows…Patterns you thought were fixed are actually things that with mental effort can indeed be changed…We are not passive in all this activity of mind and awareness.’ What we think about, our brains become. What we fixate on is neurologically who we will be.”1 So, the more we think certain thoughts, the wider those paths become and the more we’re inclined to travel on them mentally.
Allen goes on to explain, “Good things happen when we train our attention on that which is beautiful, on that which is authentic and compelling and good. What’s more, beyond the obvious emotional experience, those good things from the hand of God can point us to the One who creates beauty, who is beautiful. Cynicism puts our minds on things of this earth, and we lose hope. Beauty points our gaze toward the heavens and reminds us of hope.”1
The Bible provides the roadmap we need to change our thoughts. Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians show us how to build a new web of trails in our minds: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5, NIV) We can ask the Lord to re-route our thinking onto more positive paths that honor Him. Allen explains, “The spiraling, chaotic thoughts that have so long keep us trapped will give way to the peace and beauty and abundant life Jesus died to give us.”2 This brings hope to us and to others. And when we venture back down negative roads, we can trust the Holy Spirit to show us we’re off track before we’ve traveled too far.
Paul’s words to the Romans describe this process of shifting from old and unhealthy thought patterns to new ones: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2, NIV) When we realize we’re letting the world influence us more than the Lord, let’s make it a regular practice to ask Him to renew our minds. Jennie Allen explains, “We renew our minds by filling our minds with truth, with who God says we are, and then holding every other thought up to those truths. Those truths are our weapons, and they stop the spirals in our minds.”2
As we focus on forging new mental paths, we’re learning to keep our thoughts in check. Our mindsets change as we trust the Holy Spirit, apply the wisdom of Scripture, and surrender our thoughts to God consistently. Every day provides a new opportunity to invite the Lord to continue widening new and better paths in our minds.
For some musical inspiration, listen to “Burn the Ships” by the band For King and Country. It invites us to walk away from the negative elements of our pasts and start fresh. As you listen, ask God what unhealthy practices you need to turn from today so you can let Him help you forge new and better paths.
- Jennie Allen, Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts, Waterbrook, 2020, pages 42 & 135.
- Jennie Allen, Get Out of Your Head Study, Thomas Nelson, 2020, pages 54 & 59.