“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” – Proverbs 4:23.

A few years ago, I was hiking in the Ochocos in a place I had never been to before. As my dog and I ventured up a hill away from my truck, I looked around for landmarks to help me remember my way back. After hiking to the top of the ridge, about 1.5 miles from my truck, I began the descent, and I forgot the landmarks. An hour later, I knew I was lost. It turns out, I was about 3 miles from where my truck was. Fortunately, I ended up on the dirt road that led me back to my truck.

Recently, I went back to the same place to hike again. This time I used the All-Trails app to clearly map out my journey. I was in the same locale as I was a few years before. As I started heading back to the truck, I pulled out the phone and looked at All-Trails, and it showed me that I was veering off track and it led me back to my vehicle much more quickly than the hike a few years ago.

Our thought life in many ways is like a hiking trip. We can be on a clear path to good or we can get lost in any number of unhealthy thought patterns, some leading to deep depression, anxiety, narcissism, lust, pride, unforgiveness and the list goes on. As you look at your thought patterns over the last few days, what places did you go mentally and emotionally?

As Proverbs 4:23 states, our hearts determine the course of our lives. A person who does not guard their heart can end up in some very dark places emotionally and mentally. I remember times in recent years when I was almost asleep, and a thought would hit me about a situation in my life that was emotionally painful. As I “took the bait,” my thought pattern would slide into depression, anxiety, worry or even anger. And sleep would be hard to find.

Thoughts that take us in very negative directions and create emotional or mental breakdowns are called Atomic Negative Thoughts or “ANTs.” Every day, we must deal with ANTs. They come in a variety of ways, some may even seem innocent and even positive but very quickly, if left unchecked, can become a slippery slope into very dark places.

Recently, I was reading a book by Curt Thompson, a Christian psychiatrist who described a young lady who had a very traumatic upbringing. The title of the book is “The Deepest Place.” She had been in counseling and in a support group for several months. One day, she had a “trigger” moment of seeing a person that reminded her of a person from her childhood who had hurt her deeply in many ways. She started into a series of thoughts that took her back to her early years and depression, and even suicidal thinking began to take over her thoughts. Fortunately, that night she had a meeting with her support group that was led by a licensed counselor. Very quickly, the group could see that she was having an emotional breakdown. They asked a few questions and allowed her to reveal how she got to this dark place. The group began to make truthful statements about who this lady was today – a born-again believer in Christ, a wise and loving friend, a person with much potential to have much positive impact on the people with which she was in community. As she began to take in these positive and life-giving words, her mind began to settle. She began to let go of fear, anxiety, anger and confusion.

With care and comfort coming from this support group, she found the peace that Isaiah 26:3 speaks of: “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” Peace like a river poured into her soul as she allowed her mind to listen to and work with her support group and find recovery. Granted, this was a process and not just a one-and-done moment, but it was a significant step toward her complete healing internally.

There can be many reasons why and how these ANTs influence our thinking. Understand that God has a different plan and very positive direction for your thinking to proceed. Romans 12:2-3 says, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

I would encourage those who are dealing with trauma from the past to find a licensed counselor to walk you through the process of finding mental health. For those who are battling everyday mental issues, I would encourage you to guard your heart as Proverbs 4 indicates and to let God transform your thinking as Romans 12 says. We do that through being aware of the negative thoughts. We then need to capture the thought and prevent it from having deep impact. Then, turn to Jesus, the one who can exchange the negative thinking for life-giving, positive thoughts, asking Him to help you set your mind on things that are good.

As we are aware of the negative, we can then capture the unhealthy thoughts, turn them over to Christ, and then we can see these ANTs get squished! We can reach for God’s peace and healthy thinking to create new life within. When our thoughts are transformed, we can become new people that bring new life to our world.

Brian Carmack serves as lead pastor at Eastside Church in Prineville. He can be reached at brianc@eastsidefoursquare.org.