Multiplication Hurts

As we look at the slide, we will see that the Psalm writer used the word 'multiply'

These thoughts are accepted as valid because of their presence.

Multiplication is different than addition. In addition a person can keep careful control over his thoughts by noticing them and evaluating them one by one. But when worrisome thoughts multiply, the ability to carefully evaluate them one by one is lost. We might dismiss the most exaggerated worries, but still some penetrate our mind and enter our hearts. Once entered, these thoughts are accepted as valid because of their presence.

Did you ever feel something was true even though later you found out it wasn't? Sometimes it is a rumor about a person. We go on and on thinking about the implications of someone's whisper and find out later it was not true at all! At other times, it is a concern about our own lives.

I remember one time when I felt a lump on my back. I wondered what it was. The more I thought, the more other anxious thoughts joined the original one. At the same time I began to regularly feel the lump. It seemed to be growing really quick! Was it the end of my life? I even had another pastor to accompany me to the hospital in case it was something serious. Alas, it was only a fatty deposit which was quickly cut away!

When we have more confidence in our thoughts than we should (pride), this situation is exacerbated.

Anxious thoughts demand a response. They provoke us to doubt what we trust. If we don't respond to them, we tend to let those thoughts dominate our minds.