“Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.”
Deuteronomy 8:4 (NIV)
Situation: my thumbs have arthritis that can be quite painful. On the bright side: My fingers work well enough to type this devotional. I can still play the piano and guitar and play volleyball. All things which bring my great joy.
After being rescued from slavery, the Israelites did a LOT of grumbling and complaining. They ruminated on the negative instead of the positive. Moses had to remind the people that there was, in fact, a bright side. Did they have to wander the wilderness for forty years as a consequence for their lack of faith? Yes. Did they get hungry? Yes. Did they thirst? Yes.
But did God take care of them at every turn?
Yes!
ADHD and negative thinking often go hand in hand. People (adults and kids alike) with ADD or ADHD have more negative thoughts than most. And once they jump on the negative train, it’s even harder to jump off. Bad situations and thoughts about themselves tend to repeat over and over again in an unending loop in their brains1. I even find myself ruminating hurtful circumstances or on how I could have handled a situation differently. Other negative thoughts include negativity bias, catastrophizing, and perseveration2.
The Bible speaks to our thoughts as well. Here’s some of what the Word says:
- Keep our eyes upward.
Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” We tend to talk about what’s on our minds. If we’re keeping God in our thoughts, we are going to talk about him more. If we fret over earthly concerns, that’s all we’ll discuss.
- Keep our minds grateful.
The Israelites only saw what they did not have versus what they did have. They took God’s acts of kindness for granted. How often do we not take note of the clean water that comes from our faucets or the fresh food in our fridges. Or our abilities to see, hear, smell, walk, and touch.
- Keep our thoughts captive.
Philippians 4:4-9 has a wonderful list of where we should trap our thoughts: “…whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise…”
We try many things to stay positive in our household: The words, “I can’t” aren’t allowed. Sometimes when she’s dwelling on the negative side, I tell her to think of two positive things. I’ve had her apologize to herself for being mean. Sometimes I tell her to smile. Smiling has been shown to increase the happy chemicals in our brain3.
And, let’s face the truth, sometimes (more often than I’d like to admit), I allow myself to get sucked down into the muck with her. Here’s an article about combating negative thinking for parents of autistic kids. And if you want to understand the autistic brain and why negative thinking occurs so often, here’s a journal article to read. Often the answer is looking on the bright side.
Let’s look on the plus side and remind our complex kids that God gives every cloud a silver lining.
- https://www.theminiadhdcoach.com/living-with-adhd/adhd-rumination ↩︎
- https://chadd.org/attention-article/conquering-the-three-mental-enemies-of-adults-with-adhd/ ↩︎
- https://www.nbcnews.com/better/health/smiling-can-trick-your-brain-happiness-boost-your-health-ncna822591 ↩︎
