Hello, my name is Rebecca, and I have an overactive “but” muscle. Can you relate? Now, I am not talking about the strength of my gluteus maximus, or yours–I promise you that is not something about which I can boast. It was not a spelling error. 😉 No, the “muscle” I am talking about is the constant battle of the “but” in my mind.

I don’t know about you, but my thoughts are often working against me. They are rarely on my side. Despite my greatest efforts, my brain finds a way to think the very worst of me, of situations I face, and even of those around me. When left to its own devices, my mind would dwell in a dark place of fear and negativity.

Thankfully, however, God provides people around me to counter the bully in my own mind. I am grateful for the friends, family members, and other voices around me who speak truth into my life. I need to hear it–sometimes again and again–to be reminded that my thoughts cannot be trusted. However, this is exactly where the overactive “but” muscle kicks into gear. Maybe you know exactly what I am talking about.

Imagine this scenario…I am having one of “those” days. There are countless circumstances that can bring it on–a conflict in a relationship, a difficult challenge at the office, a conversation that didn’t go well, or an outfit that didn’t fit right–or sometimes it seems like all of the above at one time. In those moments, instead of encouraging me and pushing me to a better place, my mind sends me down the dark and lonely trail of self-abuse, trying to convince me that everything that seems wrong is my fault, it will never get better, and ultimately clearly illustrates what a failure I am. I know…it’s not pretty, but it happens.

That’s when God, in His love and mercy, will start sending me messages to oppose the lies swimming around in my mind. It could be a song, a message on the radio, a word from a friend, or a scripture that comes to mind; no matter what form it comes in, God reminds me that I am not a failure…I am enough…and that everything will be okay. He is so faithful. However, that is where the “buts” begin.

I know the truth. I know what I am thinking is a lie, and what I am hearing is true. In my heart, I know this, but it is my mind that betrays me. When truth is spoken to me in those moments, my heart resonates with what it hears, ready to receive and apply it. My mind, however, steps in quickly to say, “Whoa, whoa–wait a minute here. That might be true for some people, BUT not for you, especially this time. Did you see what you said, did, wore?? Some of that stuff may have been true for you before, BUT you definitely messed it up this time, and that shows the real you. The rest of the time, you are totally a pretender.” My mind is brutal. Even when the voice of truth keeps fighting for its place in my mind, the “buts” continue to come.

So what can I do with this overactive “but” muscle? What can you do if you can completely relate to my struggle? Thanks be to God, we are not left alone in this crazy battle. The “but” muscle can be overcome! But it is going to take some exercise. If we want to strengthen any part of our physical bodies (including the gluteus maximus), we need to exercise it. The same is true for our minds. What we exercise is what will become strong and dominate our thinking.

So if I continue to allow my “but” muscle to win, it will continue to be in charge. It will remain the most-exercised muscle in my brain and therefore be the strongest. To change this, I need to exercise the muscle that leads my mind to truth, and most importantly, I need to exercise it when I am not fighting the battle. This is critical. Imagine if I wanted to build up physical strength to prepare for a competition. However, in the time of preparation, I didn’t actually do the physical activity that was needed. I thought about exercising, I thought about doing the competition, but I never actually put it into practice before the needed time. How would I do in that competition? I don’t think I would do very well at all because my body was not prepared.

The same is true for my mind. If I want to be prepared for one of “those” days, I need to exercise truth in my mind beforehand. I need to actively and intentionally fill my mind with truth. This can come in so many different forms, and the more you and I put into practice, the stronger our truth muscle will be. It can be a list of affirmations you speak to yourself every day. It can be asking a group of close and safe friends to speak truth to you on a regular basis. And it can be the daily habit of seeing, speaking and thinking on God’s Word. I have key scriptures written on pretty index cards and hung up in a central place in my home where I can see them and read them aloud every day. In Philippians 4:8, the Bible tells us exactly what we should be thinking about–“whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” We need to remind ourselves this and exercise it every day.

The Bible also tells us what we are to do when those untrue thoughts come our way. In 2 Corinthians 10:5, we are told that “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” We destroy and take captive. Those are vocabulary words of war, and we must approach it that way. We must be as relentless as the “but” muscle–relentless in practicing and exercising truth in our minds. And when we do, we will overcome.

So if you, like me, have an overactive “but” muscle, we can be in this together! We can make a commitment to a proactive advance against the lies, exercising the truth. You can remind me, and I can encourage you. Leave me a message to fight this battle together! God bless you.