Ceasing the Crazy Confusion Cycle

I’ve been facing some confusion lately, anyone else? I think confusion is common to the human race. Let me explain what I mean. We spend our lives pursuing the right workout routine, the right diet, the right job, the right house, the right whatever. But when we finally receive it, we just get right back into the same cycle of finding the next right thing. But friends, if the pleasure only lasts for a minute, why do we keep thinking about these things so much?

Paul had an answer for this crazy confusion cycle: Set your minds on the right things. What things? He says to think on things that are above. Obviously he didn’t mean the moon and stars here.

He meant we need to fill our minds with things of eternal value. Admittedly, it can feel challenging in some seasons to stop thinking so much on things in this world.

They’re fun. They’re flashy. They catch our eyes so easily.

But Paul says in the next verse “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” When I read this, two phrases jumped out: “you died” and “your life is hidden” in Christ. Those are bold statements, aren’t they?

These ideas don't fit within our culture today. The world screams at us from all angles to “do you” and “make sure everyone hears your opinion.” But what did Paul say? His words reminded the Colossian church just has much as they remind us today- to be so devoted to God that we pay attention to what God wants first and most.

When we stop this chasing after things that fade away, the confusion about what to do often fades away too.

I’m sure that in our digital age, I can’t be alone in my occasionally confused thought patterns. OK, admittedly, some days I feel very confused. The world doesn’t make it easy to focus on eternal things.

But I can say with confidence, that when I do focus on things God says are important, my heart beats slower.

When I focus on eternal things, I live with more peace.

When I focus on eternal things, I live with more joy.

I think this is because that the Holy Spirit, speaking through Paul, reminds us that we were made for eternity. When we think about things we were built to think about, we’re aligning ourselves with the Holy Spirit.

This week, friends, as we meditate on this Scripture, I hope it helps us align our thoughts with things of eternal value. Because I don’t know you, but I always want more peace, more joy and less confusion. And that is only found in aligning ourselves with Christ.

If you’d like to download a copy of this image, please click here! And if you're joining in our community’s Scripture memory verse this week, happy memorizing!