Battling Bad Thoughts

Read: Philippians 4:6-8; James 5:13-16

“Mom! Amara’s in her closet crying,” called out Sadie. “She was fussing all the way home from school too!”

Sadie and Amara shared a bedroom, and Amara often hid in her side of the closet when she was upset or wanted to be alone.

Pulling back a few dresses, Mom peered into the closet. Tears were streaming down Amara’s face, and her arms were wrapped around her bent knees. Mom gently touched Amara’s arm. “Hey, sweetie, what’s the matter?”

Through her tears, Amara muttered, “A kid at school cussed at another kid. The bad words keep coming into my head.” Amara wiped her tears with the back of her hand. “Why doesn’t it go away?”

Mom crawled into the closet and held Amara. “Oh, Amara, sometimes that happens to us. When it does, we need to remember that we belong to Jesus, whose sacrifice on the cross covers all our bad thoughts—those we think on purpose and those we don’t. Let’s ask Him to help you with this.”

Mom closed her eyes and held Amara’s hands. “Dear Jesus, please help Amara know You love her and that You can help stop these bad words in her mind. Your Word tells us to share our problems with others and pray. Please help her as she struggles with these bad thoughts. Thank you, Lord. Amen.”

Mom gave Amara a hug. “You know, Amara, another thing that can help with upsetting thoughts is the Bible. There’s a verse in Philippians that tells us to think about good things, and that can help bad thoughts go away. When we read and memorize God’s Word, it helps us focus on Jesus, who promises to be with us in our struggles and give us grace.”

Mom picked up Amara’s teddy bear and wiggled it. She gave the bear a silly voice: “Amara, do you want to go find Sadie and have some ice cream with me?”

Amara smiled and nodded.

The rest of the day, Amara was her happy self, singing and playing with Sadie.

During bedtime prayers, Amara said, “Jesus, thank You for loving me and helping me think about good things.”