If you find yourself in the cycle of discouragement, this is actually a victory. If you know that you are in a cycle of discouragement that means that you have awareness of how you are thinking and feeling. Awareness is step one in getting out of the cycle. So believe it or not, you are already on track. All we need is two more steps to create a pattern, that when executed with repetition will create a habit of thinking that is based upon the truth and faith instead of lack and the negative experiences of the past.
A cycle by definition is a series of events that are regularly repeated in the same order. If we look at the case of Israel we see this cycle. The Israelites pass through the red sea, journey 3 days in the desert, finally get to water but can’t drink it. Their response to this event and problem is that there is no hope. They focus on the problem and forget about all the solutions they just experienced. So God tells Moses to throw a stick in the water and then bam, the water is sweet.
Continuing on the journey two and a half months pass by and they run out of food and are hungry. Their response to Moses was, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” Exodus 16:2-3
A cycle is initiated through a trigger point. The trigger point for the Israelites was when they ran into a problem and the solution wasn’t visible. This trigger point initiated thoughts and emotions of hopelessness. It’s these thoughts and emotions that would cause them to say, “you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” When the truth was that God was leading them to the promised land. After their response God rained down mana and brought quail to the camp. Though the solution wasn’t always visible, it was always available.
When a cycle is initiated it cases an emotion or a thought to arise. The emotion creates fuel for the thoughts and the thoughts create fuel for the emotions. The more discouraged you feel the more thoughts of lack, failure, insecurities, so and and so forth you think. The more you think these thoughts the stronger your emotions become. The stronger you emotions become the more focused you get on discouragement and hopelessness. This cycle will go on and on until it is broken. For the Israelites this was never intentional or on purpose. Their situation and circumstances would change and that would cause them to break the cycle of thinking and feeling.
The problem with this is that they never learned how to break the cycle themselves. They were always at the mercy of the situations and circumstances. They never learned who God actually was. They never believed that he was good. They only believed in what they could see, taste and touch. As soon as they couldn’t see, taste and touch something they went into the cycle of unbelief. Which is why they made a golden calf when Moses was on the mountain with God for forty days and forty nights. They had no faith in who God really was.
It was for this reason, for their lack of faith, and their lack of learning and understanding through experience, that disqualified them from the prize. Because they refused to change the way they were thinking they were disqualified for the very thing they were once qualified for.
It’s very important to understand that you can change the way you think. Many people are aware that they worry and live in anxiety, but they think that God made them like that. Meaning they don’t believe: one, that it is wrong and a malfunction to think like that, and two, they don’t think it’s possible to change.
The kingdom of heaven is all about change. The old is gone the new has come. Romans 12:2 says “be transformed by the renewing of your mind”. You become totally different by changing the way you think. The Israelites were disqualified from entering into the promised land because they refused to change the way they were thinking. It’s not only possible to change the way we think, but it is vital that we do so.
We have identified what a cycle is and how if functions. This knowledge creates awareness. Awareness is step number one in changing the way you think. You won’t change something when you think it is working fine. If you think fear, doubt and worry came from God you wouldn’t think to change it. But when you learn the truth that fear, doubt and worry are created from unbelief and ignorance of the truth, you will be quick to take action to get rid of it.
Step 1: Awareness. When you begin to see that you are in a cycle you now have the power to break it and create a new way of thinking that is based of the truth.
It is important to understand that it took repetition to create the old cycle of thinking. That means it will take repetition to create a new way of thinking. It is the repetition of these three steps that will accomplish this.
Whenever you become aware that you are in the old cycle of thinking this is always a victory. Because when you become aware you can take action. There can be a temptation to fall into the trap of discouragement thinking you are a failure because you keep finding yourself in this cycle. But that is a trap to suck you into the old cycle. DO NOT fall for it. Awareness is always a victory because it’s an opportunity to establish and reinforce the new way of thinking.
Step 2: Stop. When you become aware that you are in the cycle of thinking and feeling it is time to take control over the reins and stop the cycle. You can’t get out of the cycle by thinking and feeling the same things. You must take action beyond how you feel and think. This means that you will not “feel” like taking action, but you must.
You need to get out of your head. Inside your head you created a false reality. The only way to get out of it is to get back into reality. Get outside, go for a walk, hang out with people. You need to get out of the tunnel vision.
Step 3: Employ the kingdom mindset. Remember what God has said. Remember why you are doing what you are doing. Remember why you are going where you are going. Stop looking down and focusing on what you don’t see and look up and remember what you see in your vision and purpose. Remember who and what you are. Remember who God is.
Your emotions do not dictate the truth. We use the truth to reshape our emotions. We use the truth to create new thoughts. Thoughts of hope and a future. We learn to create belief in what God said instead of belief in the circumstances. We learn to think like Jesus did. Jesus said, “Anything is possible for those who believe.”
My good peoples the power to change the way you think is in your hands. This is the process I used to break incorrect cycles of thinking and feeling. Do not be a victim of your thoughts and emotions, be in control of them. Use them to create belief and faith. Use them to encounter God.
2 Corinthians 3:18
And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
You become what you behold. So behold the glory of the Lord on purpose. Then you become what you want to become. It is that simple!