For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control]. 2 Timothy 1:7 AMP
Calm… well-balanced… self-control… said no one, ever, about me! This morning God showed me the theme of overcorrection in my life and a light bulb came on. I thank God for His Spirit which leads us into all truth. I had a vision of a steering overcorrection in a car causing the car to spin out of control and wreck. What causes this? The answer: fear. This is my life. Steer off course a little, hit a bump, stumble… then…. BAM!… extreme fear causes me to massively overcorrect and there I am in a tailspin.
I looked up this word and here is what the dictionary says:
If you overcorrect or overcorrect a problem, you make it worse by doing too much while trying to put it right.
Doing too much… yes, that sounds more like me than calm and well-balanced.
I realized, when I stumble and make a mistake, instead of calmly looking at the situation and seeing how I can get back on the right path, I do something extreme, out of fear, often making it worse.
I have a problem with food. There, I said it out loud. I am on a journey to have a healthier relationship with food and my body. The root problem, which is where I am finding my satisfaction, needs to be addressed instead of jumping from one diet to the next. I am such a slow learner, but God is so patient with me. Monday, I had a plan. I did not follow the plan. I stumbled big time. The next morning, the fear of always being this way made everything in me want to abandon ship and start another extreme diet. Fear, I realized, is blinding me and causing me to overcorrect. What I really need to do is be calm, expect stumbling, and with a well-balanced mind, figure out what small corrections I need to make to be disciplined and stay on my course. I journaled, I made a list, I had a good day mentally. Goodbye, Satan. We did not fall for your scare tactics today. Fear keeps us from seeing clearly and making a positive change. As the song goes- fear is a liar. No, I will not always be this way. Yes, I can overcome because God’s word says in Romans 8:37 that in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
Lord, thank You for giving us a sound mind by Your Spirit. Help me pause and take every thought captive when something scares me. Teach me , through my mistakes, how to love and depend on You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.