Less Thinking, More Praising

All my life I have been told by people that I think too much. Anyone else have this problem? I'm naturally a worrier, a reasoner, a worrywart, whatever label you want to call it. My mind is always GOING. This bad habit started when I was around 4-5 years old as a curious child, always wanting to know "Why?" "How?" I was a gifted child who was always trying to figure out the way the world worked. However, being the way I just AM, it wasn't long before my brain went from plain curiousity to flat out worrying and obsessive rumination about the world, the world's problems, people, and trying to figure out how I could solve...well... everything.

The past year I have spent a lot of time reading about God, trying to figure out His personality and how He works. Reading about Jesus, and His life. I spend my hour-long commute to/from work listening to awesome Joyce Meyer and Beth Moore Cd's, learning practical to enjoy everyday life with God's help. Same thing when I'm out for walks-my iPod's playing, with podcasts by Joel Osteen, Beth, and Joyce, teaching me. I've been on a quest to think and learn, learn and think, and on. In the past year I've even been known to put my headphones on at night, and play the podcasts at night, to help absorb the word of God at night while I sleep.
I'm desperate to learn more.

Something hit me this week. All this ruminating's starting to get me down. I feel heavy with the weight of all my self-education. Last year God spoke to my heart about resting, about letting Him help me. Last year, 2008, was my learning year. This year I feel is supposed to be my time of resting. But hear I am, still inundating my life with excessive thinking. My thoughts have been down the past couple of weeks. So much to DO. So much to think about, so much for me to just FIGURE OUT! What do I DO with all I'm learning? I'm already trying so hard to do and learn so much! I'm already trying so hard to DO something about everything I have been learning. What else can I DO?

I was just about to put another teaching CD into my player the other day when I felt God say to me, "Less thinking, more praising."

Huh?
There's your solution, I felt God telling me. Your solution to your "doing." Stop thinking so much. Spend time praising Me instead. Lift up My Name, and your thoughts and feelings will be lifted up again.

I popped my teaching CD into my player and tried to forget about it. Surely there's nothing wrong with more learning about God. I must have heard wrong. But by the end of the day, I felt worse. Heavier.

Next morning, I was just about to pop another teaching Cd in. Heard again, "Less thinking, More Praising".

Okay, I thought. Maybe this is God, maybe this is what I need to do. I popped in my favorite worship CD-- Michael W. Smith's A New Hallelujah. Pushed the bass up really high, turned up the volume so Michael would be louder than my pitiful singing voice, started out down I-20, and rocked out.

Wouldn't you know that was just what I needed? I spent an hour, and then 2 or 3 more hours that day, worshipping God with incredible praise music. I spent hours lifting up God's name. I felt better (and still do) than I have in a long time. The only thing I thought about was all the good thing that my Yahweh has given me. The only thoughts in my brain were blessings I have been bestowed. My mood has been lifted for days.

Less thinking, more praising. Definitely God's prescription for a sound mind.