Day 16 - Stop Thinking in Extremes

A Weightless Devotional

Photo by Sasha Freemind

“Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.” —Psalm 37:8 (ESV)

One of the emotions that can swiftly follow anxiety is resentment, and when you hold onto resentment—whether toward circumstances, people, or even God—you are just reinforcing the belief that life is out of balance, and that things are not as they should be. Resentment then amplifies anxiety’s quiet voice, convincing you that, in some cosmic sense, you’ve been wronged and that your situation is unfair. This internal dialogue perpetuates stress, as your mind focuses on your unwanted circumstances. Over time, this stress can deepen into more severe anxiety, irritability, and even depression, creating a vicious cycle where anxiety and resentment feed off each other.

That means that resentment keeps you trapped in the cycle of negativity, telling you that your circumstances are not just disappointing but are somehow unjust or out of alignment with what you deserve. Then, this mindset triggers your body’s stress response, releasing stress hormones like cortisol. These hormones, while useful in short bursts, are damaging when you release them continuously, like when you live in a state of ongoing resentment and anxiety.

When you hold onto resentment, it skews your perception of reality. And that leads you to start thinking in extremes, seeing life in black and white, or overgeneralizing based on a single event. You might even start to personalize situations that have nothing to do with you, believing that God is somehow conspiring against you. What a sense of anxiety it is to live in the bullseye of an angry God!

Fretting also puts your brain into cognitive dissonance, putting your beliefs and actions out of sync. It’s this kind of mostly subconscious, distorted thinking that traps you in a cycle of fretting. You focus on what’s wrong, on what you don’t have, and on how unfair your life is, so it should come as no surprise that this narrow focus makes it nearly impossible to see the bigger picture, to see the good that still exists, and to trust in God’s overarching plan for your life. And in the end, instead of seeing trials as opportunities for your growth, you begin to view them as evidence that God has abandoned you or that life is unjust.

Yet, in His infinite wisdom, when God tells us not to fret because it tends only to evil, He gives us a way out of this cycle by inviting us to adopt a different mindset—a mindset of thanksgiving and holy wonder. Instead of focusing on what’s wrong, we’re called to focus on what’s right and to trust that God’s plans for us are good, even when they involve suffering.

It is a state of holy wonder that can nourish and sustain a shift in your perspective. This comes when you step back from your problems and instead look at the God who saves. When you rest in that space, you’ll find that your anxiety diminishes. This might mean you go out into nature, observe the beauty of creation, watch animals play, or spend some time with children. It might mean climbing a mountain or gazing at the stars—whatever stirs a sense of awe in your heart, do it! Holy wonder has the awesome power to take your focus off your problems and to put it on the grandeur and goodness of God. In that state, there is no room for anxiety.