Precious Thoughts

By the time I was in sixth grade, I had fallen in love with the well chosen turn of a phrase.  All the more so if it was set to music.  I enjoyed writing poetry.  Song lyrics often said what my heart desired to say.  I would take note when I heard or read a quote that was both elegantly written and powerful.  To this day, I write down these quotes in notebooks, journals, and on 3x5 cards or sticky notes that I place all around me. 

I have eight different ones taped to my computer screen or on 3x5 cards propped up near my computer keyboard.  Some are business related; some are personal; all of them are quotes that inspire me.  I do this because I want these words to be life altering and life directing. 

Maybe that is why this week’s verses have so much impact on me.
​Psalm 139:17-18
“How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!
I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
You are still with me!”

These verses tell me that if I was to take each of God’s thoughts about me and encapsulate them into individual succinct statements, I would not be able to number them.  And they are not just thoughts.  They are precious thoughts.  Thoughts worth putting on a 3x5 cards so I can read them again and again.  Thoughts that should be directing my life and inspiring me.

When I read these verses a mental picture comes to mind of God singing these precious, life giving words over me.  At first I may try to count them.  Verse one, verse two, chorus.  Verse three, verse four, bridge, chorus, verse five, verse six, verse seven…  Eventually, I realize that I cannot count all the thoughts He is singing over me, because there are so many.  If I was to assign one grain of sand to each thought, there would not be enough sand in the world to go with each one.  So instead, I relax and let these precious thoughts wash over me.  I find that in this song is a place of peace and rest.  So much so, that I can take a nap enveloped in the loving words as a covering of love over me.  And when I finally awake, there He is.  Still singing His precious thoughts about me.

My friends, I don’t know about you, but the soundtrack that often plays in my head is a very critical one.  One where I tell myself all the ways I do not measure up.  I point out my flaws to myself.  I relive my past mistakes and then tell myself that I can only expect to fail again.  Anyone else?  Sometimes, I am my own worst critic and it holds me captive in so many ways.  What if this week, we tried something different?  Whenever we notice that critical soundtrack starting to play, what if we were to take a few minutes to listen to the words that God is speaking over us?  Listen for the beautiful song He is singing.  Maybe write some of those precious words down and place them where we can see them throughout the day.  Or better still, repeat some of them as weapons against the critical thoughts we have about ourselves.  I think that the more I listen to and accept the precious thoughts God has about me, the more I will be able to live a victorious life.  It would allow me to live a life that is in line with what I was created to be—a beloved child of God.