Just like those irritating bugs that pester me when I sit outside to read, I have GNATs (General, Negative, Anxious Thoughts) buzzing through my thought life. At times, they dart in and out, but on other times occasions, they are persistent.

Sometimes they relate to inadequacy…. I’m not good enough.

Sometimes they relate to worry…. my children, the future, money etc.

What if….?                                                                              

If only….

I should have/ I shouldn’t have……

BZZZZ, BZZZZ

 The challenge is to be aware of the GNATS and swat them away because they distract me from what God wants me to think about or focus on.

Philippians 4:8 reminds us, “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely and admirable.” (Not what might happen, all the ways I don’t measure up, what “they” did, and worst-case scenarios) Although I have reflected on these words previously, it is unlikely I will ever master this during my earthly pilgrimage. Today, I needed to be challenged not to be complacent about those buzzing GNATs but to silence them by dwelling upon “things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”