random thoughts- about thoughts.

I've been really really busy lately. This year could not be more different from last year in every way. But when you're busy, things change. Even if you go to a school that's all about God, you can still become distracted.
That was me at the beginning of this semester. I just hadn't figured out quite yet how to sort everything out between only 24 hours a day. Though this might be taking it to an extreme, I think I kept unconsciously thinking God, give me another hour and then we'll talk.
But then things finally started sorting out and now it's better. I got my priorities back in order. Going to UMHB is amazing, and I'll explain how I've been thinking about this school in another post, but they give you God in every little thing. It's so easy to praise Him in everything you do here. But what I've really been thinking about is how we're supposed to hold our thoughts captive... and exactly how hard that really is. Because my thoughts half the time are so random, if I think back I can't even figure out how I got there.
Now keeping your thoughts captive is really important. Satan plants thoughts, doubts, insecurities, or just simple overthinking into your mind.
I would say most of the time, the things in your mind aren't even bad. They're just distractions. And, for girls especially I think, overthinking can plant hopes, or just get you re-angry over something that's already past, or make you go over that test question over and over... All things that aren't bad. Just not worth spending all your thoughts over.
I'm taking a class called Positive Psychology. It's about changing your attitude and the way you see things. And in a lot of ways, it's about how thinking positive is thinking a thought and realizing "now, that wasn't positive. Let's make it positive. Now I feel more happy."
I think that's kind of what the Bible says when it says to take your thoughts captive. He wants us to recognize our thoughts so that when we see a model and think "i wish i looked more like her" we can recognize that that was not from God, and that we are made in His image. Or when we fret over a test we know God calls us not to worry, but to give all our troubles over to Him. Or when we're mad at someone to remember it's okay to be mad, but not to sin in our anger. It's for our own benefit, so we don't waste our lives thinking about stuff that we won't even remember having thought about tomorrow.
In the end, it makes for a happier day. I'm not saying we have to think about Jesus all day long, but since thoughts lead to actions, you might as well make them actions you will be proud of, and not regret.