Raise your hand if you’re an over-thinker. I see that includes pretty much everyone! Thanks for your honesty!

I think we’re all over-thinkers, really.  It’s part of being human. We try to anticipate. When faced with a situation (and if it’s three o’clock in the morning that could be ANY situation) we play out every conceivable outcome.

Why? We over-think because we are hungry for control.  We hate the idea of leaving things to chance. We figure that if we can play out every scenario we can at least know what to anticipate; even if it isn’t something we’d choose. We think that maybe, just maybe, if we think things through enough, we can control what happens.

It’s a very stressful way of existing. So here’s a thought: how about instead of being over-thinkers, let’s try being “under-thinkers”! What if we simply realized a given circumstance, considered what leverage we have on it, and left it at that?  Being an under-thinker isn’t very attractive-sounding, but I’m betting it would lighten the load that so many carry.

The key to doing this, of course, is trust. Whether it be a decision that you are facing or a predicament that is out of your control, the best you can do, in the end, is decide what you can and cannot do about things and then…trust. Trust that it isn’t all up to you.  Trust that, ultimately, God is with you and will navigate things in ways that you cannot possibly be aware of.

Giving over even a little bit of control is hard for anyone; even if you are relinquishing it to God. That is, unless you remember that God created you, God loves you, and God will never abandon you.

Call it under-thinking or whatever you’d like but the reality is that, at the end of the day, the outcome of things is never improved by over-thinking. Your own spiritual heath, however, is immeasurably improved by trusting.

See you in church,

–Rev. Dominic