I took a quick 24-hour trip to the Twin Cities and back last Thursday and Friday and I experienced something a little strange and surprising and…insightful. So, why keep it to myself? Of course, I’ll share it with you all. 😊
My go-to radio station is one of the Des Moines area’s Christian stations – Life 107.1. Not only do I love the uplifting music they play, but I’m a big fan of their radio hosts including the morning show’s Taylor and Jen. I’ve been honored to be interviewed three times by the amazing Jen Green.
So, I listen exclusively to this station, both at home and in my car.
As I was heading north, eventually I lost the signal and had to find something else local. No Christian station showed up, so I went back to my past favorite genre –country. Before you all groan, I became a country fan because my husband, Dale, eventually convinced me of its merits.
Over the next hour or so, as I was subconsciously listening to this country station, I found myself thinking more and more about Dale. And I also found myself feeling more and more despondent and even a little depressed.
At first I couldn’t pinpoint what was behind this change in mentality. I was headed north to a good friend’s house for a fun party so why should I be sad about that?
Then I realized, I was feeling sad because the message of nearly every song that played was either about someone’s amazing boyfriend/girlfriend or it was about lost or unrequited love. And my poor heart couldn’t handle the message over and over again.
When you’ve lost your greatest love, and your greatest love story, it’s not healthy to be inundated with reminders of what you no longer have.
So, I immediately popped my Jeremy Camp CD into the player (yes, I still have one…) and enjoyed that for the remainder of my trip.
The powerful message of this little walk down the country memory lane is this. Be careful what you feed into your mind and your heart! It can have a profound effect on your mental state and your life outlook. That might sound a little overdramatic, but I lived its reality on that trip.
In Roman 12:2, we read, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Now there’s a lot in this text that I’m not even touching on, but I want to point out that we can be transformed by the renewal of our mind. That tells me that we can also go down some pretty bad roads when we feed garbage into it.
Now, this is not me trashing Country Radio, but we must be wise as to what we regularly feed into our minds, whether it be audibly, visually, or through the written word. It MATTERS what goes in! And your season in life, and the issues you’re currently struggling with may dictate some of that. For me, clearly a bunch of love-lost and love-found songs weren’t the best choice!
So, as we enter this new year, I’d encourage all of us to make some conscious, healthy decisions around all that feeds into our minds. In the King James Version of Proverbs 23:7, we read, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Again, more theology to unpack than I will do, but the overall message is clear. Our thought life has a powerful influence over every other aspect of our lives.
Are we getting a healthy dose of scripture in our day? Do we listen to uplifting praise songs? Do we limit the number of TV shows and movies we see that could plant unhealthy thoughts into our minds? I know I certainly have room for improvement here. My “battle of the radio stations” trip showcased just how vulnerable I am. It was eye-opening for me, and I hope it gives you some pause as well.
Happy New Year, my blog friends! May you see more and more of God’s work in your lives throughout 2022.
Finally, brothers, 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,
think about these things.
Philippians 4:8