I’m a Thinker

Start with Footprints poem. Discuss battle over things I think and God’s reality.

I Thought Type ONE.

2 Kings 5:1-3, 9-11, end of verse 12 - Naaman’s “I thought”: v11. Naaman thought things would go a certain way. Tell
full labor and delivery story. I thought Jesus would keep my wife from pain (curse of painful child birth nullified by
Galatians 3:13).

-Initial response, “God, where were you?” - He lists every way He carried my wife and me.
Naaman’s “I thought” resulted in anger.

-Later calmer response, “God, what happened?” - He explains Satan said, “If he doesn’t get his way he’ll tell people You
can’t be trusted in certain things.” “So I decided to prove him wrong.” God said.
-Late night, “God, I feel like a defeated man” - He calls me a conqueror, explains feelings don’t affect fact.

Naaman’s “I thought” didn’t change the fact of divine healing.

-Maybe you’ve laid hands on people and they didn’t get healed. Maybe you thought it’d go your way but didn’t. That
doesn’t change Matthew 8 - Jesus’ willingness and ability to heal.

Review: Naaman’s “I thought” expected God to move one way and since it didn’t go as planned he got angry.

I Thought Type TWO.

Luke 24:13-21 - Disciple’s “I thought”: v21. Disciples thought He’d be a flesh king and savior against the Jewish
enemies.
Disciple’s “I thought” resulted in sadness.
Sometimes we fail to see the forest for the trees. So caught up in our “I thoughts” that we forget God’s thoughts are
higher than our thoughts.

Notice they were so stuck on His crucifixion that they failed to recognize Jesus standing right in front of them...sometimes
an “I thought” can lead to the same question that was asked in Footprints, “Why would you leave me when I needed you
most?”

Classic case of Jell-O faith - touch it and it shakes.

So how does it happen?

Example: Psalm 91:11-12 - you start to meditate on a verse or section and claim it as your own and maybe you get to the
point where you say, “Nothing bad could ever happen to me because God commands His angels to protect me. In fact, I
won’t even stub my toe!”

But what do you do with Acts 9:16, 14:22, 2 Timothy 3:12?

See we all make “I thoughts” and I believe they’re good and show our faith in God, but what if it doesn’t happen the way
you thought?

How do we avoid the consequences of “I thoughts”?

Isaiah 26:3 - we must get to a place of peace within our thoughts. How get there? --
Proverbs 3:5-6 - trust God by not leaning on your own “I thought”. Acknowledge God in ALL ways - that means good
times and bad. That means when everything you thought has been trampled upon you still acknowledge God and stand up
to say, “God can be fully trusted in everything, anything, even the most outrageous thing.”

Have “I thoughts” like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Reality:
James 1:2-4 - everyone wants to be an overcomer, but we don’t actually want to overcome anything.